In a daily report, the ministry said that Commander Vyacheslav Makarov of the 4th Motor Rifle Brigade and Deputy Commander Yevgeny Brovko of an independent unit were killed while repelling an attack by Ukrainian forces.
Mr Makarov had been commanding troops on the front line and Mr Brovko “died heroically, having suffered multiple shrapnel wounds”, the Russian defence ministry added. The ministry rarely reports the deaths of military commanders in its daily reports.
They also said that Ukrainian forces had attacked the north and south of Bakhmut in the past 24 hours but had not yet broken through Russian defenses. According to the ministry, “attacks by units of the Ukrainian armed forces were repelled.”
Yevgeny Prigozhin, director of the Wagner military organization, the spearhead of the Russian offensive in Bakhmut, said his forces had advanced 130 meters in the past 24 hours.
Prigozhin said in a televised statement via his Telegram channel that his forces had taken control of 28 high-rise buildings in the western districts of Bakhmut where Ukrainian troops were still active. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces had taken control of 20 buildings and areas with a total area of 1.7 square kilometers.
Reuters has not been able to verify Russia's claims at this time.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar confirmed on Sunday that Ukrainian forces “continue to advance on the outskirts of Bakhmut.”
“Our units have recaptured more than 10 positions north and south of Bakhmut and cleared a forest area in Ivanivske. Russian soldiers from different units have been captured,” she said via Telegram.
Neither Ukrainian nor Russian forces have been able to fully take control of the city of Bakhmut despite months of fighting that has resulted in heavy casualties on both sides.
On Friday, the Moscow government said its forces had retreated north of the city of Bakhmut after a series of Ukrainian attacks. However, the Kyiv government denied that a long-planned major counteroffensive had officially begun.
Nguyen Quang Minh (Reuters)
Source
Comment (0)