- Ukraine says a Russian brigade has abandoned Bakhmut positions
- Wagner mercenary chief says Russia’s 72nd Brigade is ‘on the run’
- The Kremlin says the election campaign is difficult but will control Bakhmut
May 11 (Portal) – A Ukrainian unit said on Wednesday it routed a Russian brigade near the Bakhmut fortress in an incident, underscoring the task facing the Kremlin as it is one, like him it calls conducting “very difficult” military operation.
The unit’s claim seemed to back comments by Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of Wagner’s private army, who said on Tuesday the Russian brigade had abandoned positions at Bakhmut, Moscow’s main target of its winter offensive and the scene of the bloodiest ground fighting in Europe since World War II .
Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who heads Ukraine’s ground forces, said Russian units in some parts of Bakhmut retreated by up to two kilometers (1.2 miles) as a result of counterattacks. He did not give details.
Portal could not independently confirm the situation on the ground. Wagner units have led a month-long Russian assault on the eastern city, suffering heavy casualties, but Ukrainian forces say the offensive is stalling.
“The special military operation continues. This is a very difficult operation and of course certain goals were achieved in a year,” the new agency TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying to a Bosnian Serb TV channel.
“We managed to destroy the Ukrainian military machine quite badly,” Peskov said, referring to Russian missile attacks in Ukraine. “This work will continue.”
Peskov said he had no doubt that Bakhmut was “captured and held under control.” He also said that the Russian campaign in eastern Ukraine is progressing slowly because Russia “is not at war.”
“Waging war is a completely different thing – it means complete destruction of infrastructure, it means complete destruction of cities,” he said. “We don’t do that. We try to maintain the infrastructure and save lives.”
Peskov’s comments did not address claims that Russia’s 72nd Separate Motor Rifle Brigade had abandoned positions on the southwestern outskirts of Bakhmut.
In a statement, Ukraine’s Third Separate Assault Brigade said: “It’s official. Prigozhin’s account of the escape of the 72nd Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade of Russia from near Bakhmut and the “500 bodies” of the Russians left behind is true.”
A Russian brigade typically consists of several thousand soldiers.
“Our army is on the run. The 72nd brigade shot away three square kilometers this morning where I lost about 500 men,” Prigozhin said Tuesday, complaining that his troops received only 10% of the shells they needed.
In a later statement on social media, Prigozhin said Wagner troops advanced 170 meters (530 feet). The Ukrainian troops were confined to an area of 2.25 km². (just under a square mile) and came under pressure in western counties with many high-rise apartments.
Mercenary chief takes on the military
Prigozhin has clashed with the Russian Defense Ministry and has expressed concern over a promised Ukrainian counter-offensive to retake areas Russia occupied after the invasion began on February 24, 2022.
The Ukrainian military analyst Roman Svitan spoke of successes
at Bachmut formed the beginning of the counter-offensive.
“We are the ones who took the steps to move forward,” Svitan told Ukraine’s NV Radio. “We can say that the offensive that we have been expecting for at least half a year started about a week ago.”
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar wrote on Telegram that pro-Kiev units did not lose a single position in Bakhmut on Wednesday.
Russian troops invaded Ukraine in what Moscow called a special military operation, initially capturing large areas, but Kiev’s forces resisted. Western officials estimate that more than 200,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded.
In his evening video address, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy named the Third Brigade and referred to their report “about the escape of the 72nd independent motorized rifle brigade of Russia from the vicinity of Bakhmut”.
In Brussels, NATO’s top military official said the war is becoming more of a battle between large numbers of poorly trained Russian troops with outdated equipment and a smaller Ukrainian force with better Western weapons and training.
Admiral Rob Bauer, a Dutch officer and chairman of NATO’s military committee, noted that Russia was fielding T-54 tanks – an old model developed in the years after World War II.
In Washington, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said he had approved the first transfer of seized Russian assets for use in Ukraine.
Reporting by Tom Balmforth, Olena Harmash, Pavel Polityuk, David Ljunggren and Ron Popeski; Adaptation by Peter Graff, Alex Richardson, David Gregorio and Diane Craft
Our standards: The Thomson Portal Trust Principles.