The Russian Defense Ministry on May 14 admitted that two commanders had been recently killed in the ongoing battle for Bakhmut, the epicenter of the war in Ukraine.
In its daily briefing, the ministry said that Colonel Vyacheslav Makarov, the commander of Russia's 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade, and Colonel Yevgeny Brovko, deputy commander of an unspecified army corps for political work, had been killed in the Bakhmut area.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the two colonels were killed while Russian forces tried to hold on to their positions amid a renewed wave of Ukrainian counterattacks, but it claimed that all attacks were repelled.
More than ten months into the Battle of Bakhmut, both Ukraine and Russia have reportedly suffered heavy casualties as the bloody trench warfare rages on. Most of Bakhmut is currently under Russian control, with Ukraine still holding on to the western flanks of the largely-destroyed city.
While the battlefield situation is increasingly difficult for Ukrainian forces, Ukraine appears to have made some localized advances near Bakhmut this week.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry said on May 12 that Ukrainian forces had advanced two kilometers toward Bakhmut "without losing a single position" this week.
Eastern Operational Command spokesman Serhiy Cherevaty also reported a successful operation in the Bakhmut area in recent days, saying on television that Ukraine had conducted counterattacks and there are signs of exhaustion among the Russian forces on the battlefield.
Asami Terajima
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