Russia said on Sunday (May 14) that two of its military commanders were killed in action near the eastern Ukrainian frontline town of Bakhmut, news agency AFP reported citing the official statement issued by the Russian defence ministry.
The Russian defence ministry announced in a rare 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, the report said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ukrainian military commanders said their troops had broken through Russian positions on the southern flank of the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut, forcing Russian units back from key canal bridgehead positions, New York Times reported.
According to Ukrainian officials and the leader of Russia's Wagner militia group, Russian troops had lost a three-square-mile area southwest of the city. If confirmed, it would be Ukraine's first significant victory in the battle for Bakhmut since pushing Russian forces off a key access road two months ago, though it was far from clear that Ukrainian forces could hold the ground or that it was a watershed moment in the months-long conflict, NYT said.
The fighting around the city did not appear to be part of a larger counteroffensive that Kyiv has promised will begin soon, but it did coincide with an increase in Ukrainian strikes behind Russian lines and reports of increased attacks in Russian regions bordering Ukraine. According to Ukrainian military officers, the Ukrainian operation near Bakhmut targeted Russian Army troops as they rotated into position and was an opportunistic strike on a weak link in the Russian front, the report said.
Ukrainian commanders fighting in and around Bakhmut have stated that their role is to halt Russian advances while new brigades are trained and assembled to launch the anticipated counteroffensive. They also stated that they had the impression that the Russian Army was demoralised and thinly stretched along the front lines, leaving them vulnerable, according to the report.