Ukrainian forces have taken tactical initiative and achieved significant successes in Bakhmut during their counteroffensive operations on 18 May, the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported.
The experts note that these efforts came as a continuation of the counterstrikes that the Ukrainian forces have been conducting for several days now.
Ukrainian Eastern Forces Spokesperson Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty said that Ukraine has recaptured initiative at the battlefield and is now forcing Russian troops to react to its actions, particularly by redeploying airborne troop units to the Bakhmut flanks.
Ukrainian Deputy Defenсe Minister Hanna Maliar has noted that Russians transferred most of their reserves to Bakhmut, likely in detriment to other stretches of the frontline.
The ISW experts also believe that the Russian military command is deploying more units to Bakhmut to boost the mercenary Wagner Group’s offensive capabilities and achieve a tactical victory ahead of the expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The limited nature of the Wagner Group’s offensive operations in comparison with Ukraine’s local counterattacks highlights the fact that Russia has lost initiative in the area,
the ISW concludes, adding that Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s stated speed of daily advances in the city has remained largely unchanged.
Prigozhin said that the Russian troops had yielded 570 metres of territories north of Bakhmut, which agrees with Maliar’s statement of Ukraine’s advances: 500 metres north of Bakhmut and 1,000 metres south of Bakhmut, the ISW noted.
The institute adds that Russian military bloggers also note Ukraine’s advances in the city: according to them, “Ukrainian forces drove through the Russian defensive lines south and southwest of Ivanivske (6 km west of Bakhmut) and northwest of Klishchiivka (6 km southwest of Bakhmut) from the northwest”.
