In the Bakhmut direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed 13 field depots with ammunition.
.in_text_content_22 { width: 300px; height: 600px; } @media(min-width: 600px) { .in_text_content_22 { width: 580px; height: 400px; } }
This was stated on May 20 by the speaker of the Eastern Group of Forces Sergei Cherevaty at a briefing.
Bakhmut of the Donetsk region remains the epicenter of the fighting. There were 17 combat touches in this direction during the day.
The enemy, in addition to the Wagner grouping, is pulling airborne units, motorized rifle units, as well as some special units there (to Bakhmut – ed.), – said the spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the air of the telethon.
According to him, the Russian army lost 248 servicemen per day in killed and wounded. The Armed Forces of Ukraine in this direction destroyed 13 field depots with ammunition, several units of Russian military equipment and shot down five drones.
Prigozhin announced the capture of Bakhmut by Russia
The leader of the Wagner PPK, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on May 20 that his group is in full control of Bakhmut.
Prigozhin posted a video where he stands with the VAT fighters against the backdrop of the destroyed quarters of Bakhmut. He later promised to release a “full video of the flags being planted”.
According to Prigozhin, the last high-rise building in the south-west of the city, which is in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, came under the control of the Wagner PPK at noon on Saturday.
According to Prigozhin, from May 25, the Wagner PPK will begin withdrawing its units from the city “for rest and retraining.” By that time, defense boundaries will be created in Bakhmut and the city will be handed over to Russian troops. The VAT “will come back when help is needed,” the businessman said.
In his address, Prigozhin noted that the battle for Bakhmut lasted 224 days. According to him, the operation to take it was implemented “to enable the battered Russian army to recover.”
Reaction
The Ukrainian side did not comment on the situation in Bakhmut.
Earlier, Prigozhin repeatedly made statements about the capture of certain Ukrainian settlements by mercenaries, which were subsequently not confirmed.
The British Ministry of Defense said that over the past few days, the command of the Russian troops with a high probability has deployed at least several combat units to the Bakhmut direction. The capture of Bakhmut still seems to be a key tactical task for the Russian command, as it would allow Moscow to “declare any success” at the front.
Bakhmut remains the hottest sector of the front in Ukraine with a large number of casualties on both sides. The fighting for the city has been going on for more than nine months – since August last year. Despite the gradual advance, the Russian forces failed to completely take the city all this time.
On April 3, Prigozhin already announced the “legal” capture of Bakhmut – then the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that the Russian troops were “far from that.”
Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on this information. In the past week, the Ukrainian military has reported flank advances around Bakhmut ranging from 150 meters to 1.7 kilometers.
Prigozhin devoted more than half of his appeal about the “capture of Bakhmut” to new raids on the command of the Russian army and personally on Shoigu and Gerasimov.
However, Prigozhin had already threatened to leave Bakhmut in early May, but he never left. And he said that the General Staff threatened him with a charge of “treason against the Motherland” if he left the position without an order.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.