UKRAINIAN TROOPS ARE CLOSING IN ON BAKHMUT: KYIV

Mon 15 May 2023:

Ukrainian forces have advanced further in the vicinity of the hotly disputed eastern city of Bakhmut, according to the Kiev.

“Our units have captured more than ten enemy positions north and south of Bakhmut and cleared a large forest area near Ivanivske of the enemy,” Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram on Sunday. Russian soldiers were captured during the operation, she added.

Ukrainian troops continued to advance “against all odds,” Maliar said. “This is the moment when 1 metre is worth 10 kilometres in terms of the complexity of the task.”

Despite the latest Ukrainian success, the situation in Bakhmut remains tense, she said, as the Russian military is putting up staunch resistance. “The enemy has gathered all its forces there and is trying to advance, destroying everything in its path,” Maliar wrote. “Fierce fighting continues.”

Over the past days, the Ukrainian army has managed to regain territory around Bakhmut, which has been at the centre of fierce fighting for months, from Russian forces. Kiev’s forces could now encircle the fighters of private Russian mercenary group Wagner, which have been deployed to the city.

Two Russian military commanders killed

Russia said Sunday that two of its military commanders had been killed in combat near the frontline hotspot of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

In a rare announcement of its losses on the battlefield, the Russian defence ministry said in a statement that the commander of the 4th motorised rifle brigade, Vyacheslav Makarov, and Yevgeny Brovko, deputy commander of the Army Corps for military-political work, had been killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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