Ukrainian forces advance half kilometer near Bakhmut
"During our counterattack actions at some positions, our units were able to advance 350 to 450 meters," he said.
Ukrainian forces managed to kill 54 enemy troops and wound another 84. The troops destroyed a Grad multiple rocket launcher, three cannons, three UAVs, a 2C4 Tulpan self-propelled mortar, and two field ammunition depots.
"Near Bakhmut, we are actually observing a lower level of enemy activity," said Cherevatyi.
“There were two combat engagements over the last day, and one to three the day before. This is much less compared to the enemy's behavior over the previous months. However, the intensity of fire at our positions remains high. The enemy fired 465 times at our positions with various systems and calibers. There were two air raids.”
He attributed the decline in enemy activity mainly to "severe defeat" and losses over several months.
"Every day the enemy lost more than 100 occupiers in killed and about the same number — lightly more, in wounded," he explained.
“We predicted two months ago that if such losses were maintained and personnel not replenished, the enemy would be defeated. This is what happened.”
Cherevatyi confirmed that the Russian forces are conducting "certain rotational actions," which is a factor in the decrease in hostilities.
Healso called the statements of Wagner PMC leader Yevgeny Prigozhin about leaving the city "a latent surrender of his criminal group."
"It will take some time to verify how many – and if at all – criminal units he will withdraw, as they still remain in Bakhmut itself," he said.
Ukrainian Armed Forces still hold the previously occupied dominant heights around Bakhmut, while the advance was suspended yesterday and today to accomplish other tasks, said Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Defense, Hanna Malyar. She emphasized that the pace of the Russian offensive around the city continues to slow.
Prigozhin claims that Wagner troops continue to hand over positions in Bakhmut to Russian Defense Ministry troops and withdraw from the city. The regular Russian army is to replace Wagner units in and around the city by June 1, he said.
Analysts of the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War have not yet observed evidence that regular Russian forces have taken over Wagner's positions in Bakhmut itself or that Wagner PMC is leaving the city.
Continued successful limited counterattacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the flanks of the Bakhmut front could complicate the Russian operation to replace the [Wagner] forces with other occupation forces in Bakhmut itself, ISW analysts predict.
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