Russian forces in retreat near Bakhmut, Ukraine and Wagner say
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[May 19, 2023]
By Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey
NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine (Reuters) -The Ukrainian military and Russia's
Wagner private army both reported further Russian retreats around the
city of Bakhmut on Thursday, as Kyiv pressed on with its biggest advance
for six months ahead of a planned counteroffensive.
Ukrainian troops near the front line said Russia was bombarding access
roads to slow the Ukrainian assault, which has shifted momentum after
months of slow Russian gains in Europe's deadliest ground combat since
World War Two.
"Now, for the most part, as we have started to advance, they are
shelling all the routes to front positions, so our armoured vehicles
can't deliver more infantry, ammunition and other things," said Petro
Podaru, commander of a Ukrainian artillery unit.
Ukraine's military said troops had advanced in places by more than a
mile. Its forces had been on the defensive for half a year, weathering a
huge offensive by Moscow that saw only slow gains.
"Despite the fact that our units do not have an advantage in equipment
... and personnel, they have continued to advance on the flanks, and
covered a distance of 150 to 1,700 metres (1.1 miles)," military
spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi said in televised comments.
Ukraine's gains have been accompanied by a deepening public split within
Russia's forces between Wagner, which has led the Bakhmut campaign, and
the regular Russian military.
The blasted ruins of Bakhmut, described by both sides as a "meat
grinder", would be Moscow's only prize for its huge winter offensive
that failed elsewhere along the front.
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Kyiv says it has launched local advances around Bakhmut as a prelude to
an upcoming big counteroffensive that it hopes will turn the tide
against Russia's 15-month-old invasion.
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin says his forces inside Bakhmut itself are
still advancing, on the cusp of pushing Ukrainian troops out of their
last foothold in the built-up area on the city's western outskirts.
But he accuses commanders of Russia's regular forces of abandoning
ground north and south of the city, raising the risk of troops inside
being encircled.
"Unfortunately, units of the Russian Defence Ministry have withdrawn up
to 570 metres (1,880 feet) to the north of Bakhmut, exposing our
flanks," Prigozhin said in his latest voice message on Thursday.
"I am appealing to the top leadership of the Ministry of Defence -
publicly - because my letters are not being read," Prigozhin said,
addressing Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff
Valery Gerasimov.
"Please do not give up the flanks."
The Russian defence ministry has acknowledged some withdrawals from
positions near Bakhmut over the past week but denies Prigozhin's
assertions that flanks are crumbling, or that it has withheld ammunition
from Wagner.
FALLING INTO 'THE MOUSETRAP'
Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Russia had pushed
reserves into Bakhmut and battles had raged in its northern and southern
suburbs all day. But the Russians had been repelled and her forces had
advanced, by her estimate by about a kilometre in some areas.
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![](../images/051923PIX/news_z12.jpg)
Ukrainian service members from a 28th
separate mechanised brigade named after the Knights of the Winter
Campaign of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, fire a mortar at their
positions at a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the
city of Bakhmut in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 18, 2023. REUTERS/Sofiia
Gatilova
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/May/19/images/ads/current/graue_lda_preowned_050123.jpg)
"We are buying time for certain planned actions," Maliar said on her
Telegram channel. Reuters could not confirm her account.
Kyiv says its tactic around Bakhmut is to draw Russian forces into
the city, so as to weaken Russia's front line defences elsewhere
ahead of Kyiv's planned counterassault.
"Wagner troops climbed into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap,"
Oleksander Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine's ground forces, told
troops at the Bakhmut front in video he released this week on social
media.
"Using the principle of active defence, we resort to
counteroffensive actions in some directions near Bakhmut. The enemy
has more resources, but we are destroying his plans."
With Kyiv's counteroffensive looming, Russia has resumed missile and
drone strikes across Ukraine this month after a near two-month lull.
Waves of attacks now come several times a week, the most intense
pace of the war.
On Thursday, air raid sirens sounded overnight, black smoke filled
the sky over Kyiv and one person was reported killed in the southern
city of Odesa. Ukraine said it shot down 29 of 30 incoming missiles.
Moscow claimed to have hit military targets.
Russia has also been experiencing attacks and explosions both in
Ukrainian territory it controls and in Russian territory near the
border. Officials in Russian-occupied Crimea reported a freight
train had been derailed overnight by "interference". Kyiv never
confirms any role in incidents there.
On the diplomatic front, leaders of the G7 group of big developed
countries were meeting in Japan where they are expected to unveil
tighter measures to close off Russia's opportunities to bypass
financial sanctions.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Japan's Fumio Kishida met for talks in
Hiroshima, aiming for closer cooperation in the face of both an
unpredictable Russia and ascendant China.
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A U.S. Senate aide and a defence official said on Thursday the
Pentagon had overvalued U.S. equipment it sent to Ukraine by around
$3 billion, an error that opens up the possibility of more weapons
being sent to Kyiv.
On Wednesday, Moscow agreed to a two-month extension of a deal
safeguarding exports of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports despite
the war. Russia had threatened to abandon the deal unless it
received additional guarantees protecting its own grain and
fertiliser exports.
However, a Ukrainian official said the corridor had not yet resumed,
while Russia said more progress was needed to advance its interests.
(Writing by Peter Graff, and Andrew Heavens; Editing by Mark
Heinrich and Andrew Cawthorne)
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