Ukrainian forces signaled, in the last few hours, that there was an advance of two kilometers around Bakhmut, the epicenter of the fighting in the east of the country. The Russian government, however, denies any progress by Ukraine on the front lines. “The enemy suffered significant losses in numbers of men. Our defense forces advanced two kilometers next to Bakhmut,” said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar on social media. The head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who fights on the Russian side, accused Moscow troops of abandoning positions around the city. Prigozhin – who has repeatedly clashed with the Russian authorities – said the situation on Bakhmut’s flanks was “evolving according to the worst-case scenario”. “The territories that we have been conquering for many months at the cost of the blood and lives of our brothers in arms, covering tens or hundreds of meters a day, are now being abandoned, practically without a fight, by those who should have held ours. flanks,” added group leader Wagner. However, the Kremlin insists on denying any significant advances by Kiev forces. “Individual statements on Telegram about a ‘breakthrough’ at various points on the front line do not correspond to reality,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement. The statement adds that “the general situation of special military operations is under control”, using the Russian term to designate the invasion. Counteroffensive The Russian Ministry of Defense also claimed to have prevented several Ukrainian attacks on Thursday (11), and reported that a battle is underway near Malynivka, east of Donetsk, involving air and artillery forces. According to the BBC, pro-Kremlin war correspondent Sasha Kots reported that the long-awaited Ukrainian counter-offensive had begun. According to Kots, who claimed to quote “reliable” sources, the Ukrainian tanks were around Kharkiv, heading for the border with Russia. Another Russian war correspondent, Alexander Simonov, wrote in Telegram that “Ukrainian forces had managed to enter near the village of Bohdanivka, near Bakhmut, occupying several kilometers”. Ukrainian military analyst Oleksandr Musivenko said Kiev recognizes that the planned counter-offensive “may not defeat Russia in all occupied areas”. Musivenko told Ukrainian radio NV that there was a possibility that the war would continue into next year. “Everything depends on the evolution of the battles. We cannot guarantee how the counter-offensive will develop.” Western authorities estimate that between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in Bakhmut, and that the Ukrainian armed forces also paid a heavy price. This Friday (12), the mayor of Melitopol, who is in exile, reported a large explosion in the center of the city in southeastern Ukraine, occupied by Russian troops since the beginning of the invasion. According to the BBC, the cause of the explosion is unknown. Yesterday, the Ukrainian Air Force carried out 14 strikes against Russian military forces and equipment. In addition to the air strikes, Ukraine claimed to have destroyed nine Russian drones and carried out successful strikes on dozens of military targets – including artillery units, an ammunition warehouse and air defense equipment. The Institute for the Study of War has revealed that Ukrainian forces likely advanced on the eastern city of Bakhmut, forcing Russian troops back, in some areas, by as much as two kilometers. The US-based Institute said the fact that the Russian Ministry of Defense had recognized “Ukrainian counterattacks with unusual rapidity”, while denying them – indicated “an increase in panic”. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, thousands of civilians and fighters have been killed or injured, cities and towns have been destroyed in the fighting, and an estimated 8.2 million Ukrainians have been registered as refugees in Europe, 2, 8 million of which in Russia. *Reproduction of this content is prohibited
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