The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged that its forces withdrew from positions north of the town of Bakhmut in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, which has been the scene of heavy fighting for months.
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Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told a press conference on May 12 that Russian forces had "occupied a new frontier" at the Berkhivske Reservoir.
Konashenkov saying Ukraine had launched an assault with more than 1,000 troops and up to 40 tanks after advancing the day before in the Soledar direction "along the entire line of contact" with a length of more than 95 kilometers.
The withdrawal allows Ukrainian troops to control the road to the town of Chasiv Yar, the only road currently supplying Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut.
The gains, if confirmed, would be the biggest for Ukraine in six months. It is also unclear whether the events were part of a long-planned counteroffensive, which the head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin said on May 11 had already begun.
Prigozhin, Russian military bloggers, and the Ukrainian military had previously reported on the withdrawal. Prigozhin acknowledged this in an audio message, saying that what Konashenkov described was "unfortunately called a defeat and not a regroupment."
In a separate video message, he said the Ukrainians had seized high ground overlooking Bakhmut and opened the main road leading into the city from the west. This could lead to the encirclement of his mercenaries inside the city, Prigozhin said.
There were also reports of Ukrainian advances to the south, suggesting a coordinated push by kyiv to encircle the Russian forces at Bakhmut.
Officials installed by Russia in Lugansk on May 12 reported two powerful explosions in the city, which is far from the Ukrainian positions. Photos posted on Telegram showed a column of black smoke rising over the city.
Authorities said on Telegram that two Ukrainian-made Grom tactical missiles damaged or destroyed buildings at two disused factories and blew out the windows of five houses.
Moscow-backed Luhansk region administrator Leonid Pasechnik said six children were injured. Viktor Volodatsky, a member of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, was also injured, according to other officials.
There was no comment from the Ukrainian side and the claims could not be independently verified.
Earlier on May 12, Kyiv reclaimed modest advances in the Bakhmut area. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on Telegram that Ukrainian forces had advanced 2 kilometers without ceding any further ground to the Russians.
In turn, the Russian Ministry of Defense saying His troops had fought off several Ukrainian attempts to overrun their positions while pounding the Bakhmut-Avdiyivka-Maryinka front line that has seen the fiercest fighting in recent months.
The claims of neither party could be independently verified.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy once again vowed to defeat the Russians and thanked everyone involved in driving them out of Ukrainian territory.
"The occupiers of Ukraine are already internally ready for defeat. They have already lost this war in their minds. We must press them daily so that their feeling of defeat becomes their escape, their mistakes, their losses," he said on May 12 in Twitter.
โWe are preparing to add even more weapons for you warriors to have even more chances to defeat the Russian aggressor and restore peace. I am grateful to everyone who helps Ukraine, โhe added.
Ukraine's preparations for a counter-offensive received a major boost on May 11 when Britain announced it was supplying Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles, giving Kiev the ability to attack Russian troops well behind them. front lines. Storm Shadow missiles have a range of more than 250 kilometers.
With information from the Ukrainian and Russian services of RFE/RL, Reuters, AFP, BBC and dpa
