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    Russia’s war in Ukraine: Live updates

    Tara Subramaniam, Catherine Nicholls and Christian Edwards, CNNBy Defence News No Comments2 Mins Read


    5:58 a.m. ET, May 18, 2023

    Ukrainian military claims gains around Bakhmut


    From CNN’s Olga Voitovych in Kyiv

    Ukrainian forces have made advancements around the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut over the past day, despite coming under heavy fire from Russian troops, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military said Thursday. 

    “In the course of the fighting, our units continue to advance on the flanks, despite the fact that they do not currently have an advantage in personnel, ammunition and equipment,” Serhii Cherevatyi, the spokesman for the Eastern Grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, told Ukrainian TV. 

    “We managed to advance from 150 (492 feet) to 1,700 meters (5,577 feet),” he added.

    CNN cannot verify the battlefield reports.

    The head of the Russian paramilitary Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has also claimed that his fighters have advanced within the eastern city, as fierce fighting continues for the territory still controlled by Ukrainian troops.

    Some background: Bakhmut has been the target of a months-long assault by Russian forces that has so far failed to capture the city. 

    Last week, Ukrainian forces claimed to have conducted “effective counterattacks” in the area. Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian Land Forces, said his army had forced Russian troops to retreat by “a distance of up to 2 kilometers (1.2 miles).”
    Those gains have reportedly continued this week. Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar claimed Wednesday that “our troops liberated about 20 square kilometers (more than 7 square miles) of the Bakhmut suburbs in the north and south of the city.”

    However, Maliar acknowledged that Russia is also making advances in Bakhmut, bringing in paratroopers and “destroying the city with artillery.”



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