- Wagner says regular Russian troops are leaving the flanks of the city
- Kiev says Wagner mercenaries fall into Bakhmut’s ‘mousetrap’
- Russia has conceded some deductions, denies collapse
- Ukraine: Most missiles shot down in recent Russian airstrikes
NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine, May 18 (Portal) – Ukraine’s military and Russia’s private army Wagner both reported more Russian retreats around the town of Bakhmut on Thursday, while Kiev continued its biggest advance in six months ahead of a planned counter-offensive .
Ukrainian troops near the frontline said Russia was bombing access roads to slow the Ukrainian attack, which had lost momentum after months of slow Russian victories in Europe’s deadliest ground combat since World War II.
“Now that we’ve started the advance, they’re mostly shelling all the routes to the frontline positions, so our armored vehicles can no longer carry infantry, ammunition and other things,” said Petro Podaru, commander of a Ukrainian artillery unit.
The Ukrainian military said troops advanced by more than a mile in places. His forces had been on the defensive for half a year, surviving a massive Moscow offensive that met with only slow success.
“Despite the fact that our units have no advantage in terms of equipment … and personnel, they have continued to advance on the flanks, covering a distance of 150 to 1,700 meters (1.1 miles),” military spokesman Serhiy Cherevatyi told TV Comments.
Ukraine’s achievements have coincided with a growing public schism within the Russian armed forces between Wagner, who led the Bakhmut campaign, and the regular Russian military.
Described by both sides as a “meat grinder,” the devastated ruins of Bakhmut would be Moscow’s only reward for its massive winter offensive, which failed at the front lines elsewhere.
Kyiv says it has launched local forays around Bakhmut as a prelude to an upcoming major counteroffensive that it hopes will turn the tide against Russia’s 15-month-long invasion.
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin says his forces in Bakhmut itself are still advancing and are on the verge of driving Ukrainian troops out of their last stronghold in the built-up area on the western outskirts of the city.
However, he accuses the commanders of Russia’s regular armed forces of giving up areas north and south of the city, which increases the risk of troops being encircled inside.
“Unfortunately, Russian Defense Ministry units have retreated as much as 570 meters (1,880 feet) north of Bakhmut, exposing our flanks,” Prigozhin said in his latest voice message on Thursday.
“I am publicly appealing to the top leadership of the Defense Ministry because my letters are not being read,” Prigozhin told Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov.
“Please don’t give up the flanks.”
[1/4] Military personnel attend a mourning ceremony to bury the remains of sixty Russian Armed Forces soldiers and three civilians killed in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict at a cemetery in Luhansk in Russian-controlled Ukraine on May 18, 2023. Portal/Alexander Ermochenko
The Russian Defense Ministry last week admitted some withdrawals from positions near Bakhmut, but denied Prigozhin’s claims that flanks were crumbling or that it withheld ammunition from Wagner.
Fall into the “mousetrap”.
Ukraine says its tactics around Bakhmut are to lure Russian forces into the city to weaken Russian frontline defenses elsewhere ahead of Kiev’s planned counterattack.
“Wagner troops climbed into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap,” Oleksander Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, told troops on the Bakhmut front in a video he posted to social media this week.
“According to the principle of active defense, we resort to counter-offensives in some directions near Bakhmut. The enemy has more resources, but we are destroying their plans.”
With a counter-offensive looming in Kiev, Russia this month resumed missile and drone strikes in Ukraine after a nearly two-month hiatus. Waves of attacks are now occurring several times a week, at the most violent pace of the war.
Air raid sirens wailed overnight Thursday, black smoke filled the sky over Kiev and one person was reportedly killed in the southern city of Odessa. Ukraine said it shot down 29 of 30 incoming missiles. Moscow claimed to have hit military targets.
Russia, too, experienced attacks and explosions both on Ukrainian territory it controls and on Russian territory near the border. Officials in Russian-held Crimea reported that a freight train derailed overnight due to “malfunction”. Kiev never confirms that it was involved in the incidents there.
At the diplomatic level, leaders of the G7 group of major industrialized countries met in Japan, where they are expected to unveil tougher measures to remove Russia’s ability to circumvent financial sanctions.
US President Joe Biden and Japan’s Fumio Kishida met in Hiroshima for talks aimed at closer cooperation in the face of an unpredictable Russia and a burgeoning China.
A Catholic website reported that Pope Francis plans to send personal messengers of peace to the presidents of Ukraine and Russia.
On Wednesday, Moscow approved a two-month extension of an agreement that will ensure exports of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports despite the war. Russia had threatened to withdraw from the deal unless it received additional guarantees to protect its own grain and fertilizer exports.
However, a Ukrainian official said the corridor has not yet returned to service, while Russia said more progress was needed to advance its interests.
writing by Peter Graff; Edited by Mark Heinrich
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