The deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Malyar reported that Ukrainian defenders did not lose any position in Bakhmut this week. She also confirmed the advance of the Armed Forces in the Bakhmut direction by 2 kilometers.
"Despite the presence of weapons, the enemy failed to implement their plans; the enemy suffered great losses of manpower; our defenders advanced 2 kilometers in the direction of Bakhmut; we did not lose a single position in Bakhmut this week," she noted.
The deputy minister said that the enemy is giving false information about the lack of weapons, probably with the aim of justifying the real situation.
"The analysis of the messages shows that this city is extremely important for the enemy. Almost sacred. How does the enemy cover the information about the battles in Bakhmut? He brags about himself, talks about his alleged success and invents stories about our military command," Malyar added.
- Intense fighting in the Bakhmut area began in July 2022 and continues to this day. To capture Bakhmut, Russia threw the most prepared units of regular troops and Wagnerites, most of the invadersʼ artillery was concentrated in this direction.
- On May 8, 9, units of the 3rd Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine recaptured a two-kilometer section on the southwestern outskirts of Bakhmut from the Russians. The brigade published a video of the assault on the positions of the occupiers. The commander of the Ground Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi commended the soldiers for this. According to him, a competent defense made it possible to exhaust the PMC "Wagner" in this direction, due to which the mercenaries were replaced by less well-prepared units of the regular troops of the Russian Federation.
- Before that, the owner of the PMC "Wagner" Yevhen Pryhozhyn told about the escape from the positions of the fighters of the Russian 72nd brigade. They allegedly exposed a strategic bridgehead.