Russia reported the deaths of its army’s two colonels allegedly on the battlefield near Bakhmut. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian military source says three Russian colonels were eliminated and one injured in a settlement three kilometers behind the front line.
On 14 May, in its daily update, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the commander of its 4th Motor-Rifled Brigade, Col. Vyacheslav Makarov, was severely wounded while repelling the third Ukrainian attack near Krasne (possibly a pre-decommunization name of 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,” Col. Yevgeny Brovko, “heroically perished” while he commanded the actions of troops “at the other section of repulsion of enemy attacks,” according to the Russian MoD.
Meanwhile, a day before, a report by Ukrainian military officer Anatilii Shtefan, linked to the Ukrainian General Staff, mentioned the deaths of three Russian colonels in Klishchiivka (south of Bakhmut):
- Deputy commander of the 2nd Army Corps (“DNR army,” – Ed.) for the MZP (“Military and Political Tasks,” – Ed.), Colonel “T.”;
- Commander of the 4th Brigade, Colonel “M.”;
- Chief of staff of the 4th Brigade, Colonel “M.”
Also, according to Shtefan’s report, the deputy commander of Russia’s 4th Brigade, Colonel “Ya.,” was severely injured, and additional “sanitary and irrecoverable losses of personnel” were up to 20 soldiers.
Shtefan didn’t provide additional details regarding the incident, but the number of top officers among casualties indicates a Ukrainian strike on the Russian headquarters.
The Ukrainian General Staff didn’t mention the operation in its daily bulletin, saying only that Russian forces continued their offensive operations at the Bakhmut axis as heavy fighting continued in Bakhmut City.
“In addition, the enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive actions towards the settlements of Hryhorivka, Bohdanivka, Khromove, Bakhmut, and Bila Hora during the day of May 13,” the General Staff wrote.
Read also:
- Ukrainian military reveals devastated Bakhmut: every meter of the city under fire
- Frontline report: Ukraine liberates 17.5 km² near Bakhmut, unblocks supply route
- Russia’s 72nd Brigade withdraws in disarray as Ukraine regains at least 1 km of territory – UK intel
- Russians pushed back 0.25-1.5km in Bakhmut north and south – Eastern Group of Forces
- Frontline report: Russians desert more positions, escape Ukrainian encirclement near Bakhmut
- Russo-Ukrainian War. Day 442: Ukraine conducts successful limited counterattack around Bakhmut
