In detail, the founder of the “Wagner” forces, Yevgeny Prigozhin, revealed that his military units advanced an area of 260 meters in Bakhmut, indicating that they had imposed control over about 180,000 square meters.
Prigozhin said: “Today, Wagner units advanced in different directions up to a distance of 260 meters, and took control of land with an area of 180,000 square meters in the city of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut).”
And he added, “There is still 1.28 square kilometers of the city’s land under enemy control (yesterday it was 1.46 square kilometers),” according to what was reported by the Russian website Sputnik.
Prigozhin pointed out that the Ukrainian forces are resisting fiercely, and that “battles are continuing in every house and every meter,” explaining that “the enemy cannot be surrounded because the positions of the army units near Bakhmut are not lost.”
The Wagner forces’ fighters had completed cleansing the western neighborhoods of Bakhmut, according to the “Novosti” agency’s correspondent in the city.
After the clearing of the fortified “Gnezdo” region in the southwest of Bakhmut, the small “Novi” region and the private sector remained under the control of Ukrainian forces.
According to the Novosti correspondent, Wagner fighters expect that Bakhmut will be fully controlled this week.
Destroying a radar station and 5 “Patriot” bombers by Kenjal
On the other hand, the Russian Ministry of Defense revealed the results of the missile strike on Kiev, which targeted the US Patriot missile system.
“According to reliable data, on May 16, as a result of a missile strike carried out in Kiev using Kinjal hypersonic missiles, a multifunctional radar station was hit and completely destroyed, as well as 5 launchers of the US Patriot air defense system,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry announced on May 16 that the “Kinjal” missile targeted the “Patriot” anti-missile system in Kiev.
“The Kinjal hypersonic missile hit, with a high-precision strike, the US Patriot anti-missile missile system in the city of Kiev,” the ministry said in a statement.
