Russian Attempt to Cover Up Bakhmut Retreat Majorly Backfires
http://www.yahoo.com/news/russian-attempt-cover-bakhmut-retreat-165520875.html
Fri, May 12, 2023
Russia’s Ministry of Defense confirmed its forces are retreating from Bakhmut, Ukraine, which Russia has been trying and failing to seize for months.
Russia has regrouped to “more advantageous defensive positions” north of Bakhmut, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Friday.
The news comes after months of Russian efforts to take Bakhmut, which officials set their sights on as an important city to capture, believing it could determine the course of the war. Bakhmut has an intersection of rail and roads that lead to strategically important cities in the Donbas. Russia finds itself on the back foot as Ukraine prepares to launch a counteroffensive sometime this spring or summer, according to U.S. intelligence assessments.
While President Zelensky has said Ukraine still needs more time before launching its counteroffensive, Ukraine said Friday its forces are making gains in Bakhmut in some pockets.
Russia’s plan and messaging for the apparent retreat appear to remain in flux. The Russian Ministry of Defense denied that Ukraine was making gains in Bakhmut. Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the head of the Russian Wagner Group, which has been fighting in Bakhmut, claimed the retreat is “a flight, not a regrouping.” He complained this week that territories were being “abandoned.” Prigozhin acknowledged Ukraine was making some “successful counterattacks.”
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