Ukrainian artillerymen at Bakhmut, May 12, 2023.
Kyiv – The Ukrainian army announced today that it has made further territorial gains in heavy fighting around the city of Bakhmut in the east of the country. Kyiv has already said in recent days that Ukrainian troops have increased pressure on Russian forces north and south of Bakhmut. Russian mercenary forces say they have advanced inside the city, where Kiev has so far only managed to succeed marginally, Reuters wrote.
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Photo gallery: Russian invasion of Ukraine
“Despite the fact that our troops do not have an advantage in terms of equipment… and the number of soldiers, they continue to advance and have covered a distance of 150 to 1,700 meters,” the spokesman said on television of the eastern group of Ukrainian troops, Serhii Cherevatyi. He did not disclose details of the territorial gains.
Reports of partial successes by Ukrainian forces in the Bakhmut area have been coming for several days. Last week, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyarova said that Ukrainian forces had advanced two kilometers on the Bakhmut section of the front.
Fierce fighting has been taking place at Bakhmut for several months with heavy losses on both sides. Reuters describes this battle as the longest and bloodiest of the entire war in Ukraine, which Russia launched with its invasion last February. The invading troops conquered most of the city. As Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary Wagner group (transcribed from the Russian Wagner) recently stated, the Russians control over 80 percent of Bachmut. Reports from the battlefield could not be independently verified.
As the Ukrainian General Staff reported in its regular morning briefing, Russia continues to focus on the towns of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdijivka and Marjinka in eastern Ukraine. 36 combat engagements took place there. Bakhmut and Marjinka remain the epicenter of the current fighting.
Russia is likely to bar senior officials from resigning as the “special military operation,” Russia's official term for the war in Ukraine, continues. The measures are likely to apply at least to regional leaders, security officials and people from the presidential administration. This was stated by the British Ministry of Defense in its analysis today.
Privately, many officials are probably very skeptical about the war, often also experiencing stress at work due to the dysfunctional war apparatus. The ban on resignations is likely to be enforced by indications that those who resign will face trumped-up charges, the British ministry says.
