Russian forces continue to lose ground near Bakhmut

Ukraine's Armed Forces continue successful counterattacks on the northern and southern outskirts of Bakhmut (Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine). According to Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister, Hanna Maliar, Ukrainian forces have recaptured over ten Russian-held positions around Bakhmut within the last 24 hours. Ukraine's military pushed Russian invading forces out of the area in a forest near the village of Ivanivske, six kilometers southwest of Bakhmut, and captured Russian prisoners of war following the successful Ukrainian counterattack, Hanna Maliar reported. Over the past few days, Ukrainian forces have advanced in the Bakhmut direction, regaining more than 17 km² of territory and establishing control over strategic heights. Ukraine’s counter-encirclement operation in the area resulted in the unblocking of the main supply line leading from Bakhmut to the neighboring city of Chasiv Yar, which is currently entirely under Ukrainian control. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that Ukrainian counterattacks made Russian forces retreat from certain areas around Bakhmut on 14 May and reported that two lieutenant colonels of the Russian army had been eliminated by Ukrainian artillery strikes in the vicinities of Bakhmut within the last 48 hours. On 14 May, in its daily update, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the commander of its 4th Motor-Rifled Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Vyacheslav Makarov, was severely wounded while repelling the third Ukrainian attack near Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut, and died during the evacuation from the battlefield. Meanwhile, the “Deputy Commander of the Army Corps for Military and Political Work,” Lieutenant Yevgeny Brovko, “heroically perished.” At the same time, he commanded the actions of troops “at the other section of repulsion of enemy attacks,” according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Related:

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