Armed Forces Board: Russians lose initiative in the Bakhmut area - isw (map)

Despite the slight success of the invaders in the city where the fighting goes for every square meter, the Ukrainian forces are moving on flanks. In the Bakhmut region of Donetsk region, a series of limited counter -defense counterattack of Ukraine continues, which causes the Russians to lose their initiative on this area of ​​the front. This is stated in the report of the American Institute of War Study (ISW), published on May 17.

Analysts refer to the words of the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar and the Speaker of the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Sergiy Cherevatya, who stated that the Ukrainian forces are moving in unknown areas on the flanks of Bakhmut and managed to move 500 meters in the city's direction from May 16 to May 17. It is reported that Ukrainian defenders continue to attack Russian flanks.

At the same time, the Ministry of Defense of Russia stated that the paratroopers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation advanced slightly and recognized Ukrainian contradictions on the flanks of Bakhmut in the Bogdanivka area (5 km northwest of Bakhmut) and Ivanovsky (6 km west of Bakhmut).

At the same time, the Chairman of the Wagner PEC Yevhen Prigogin denied the statement of the MoD about territorial achievements and criticized the defense department for the false submission of retreat as a seizure of new positions.

Analysts noted that one of the Russian military registers complained that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation should now respond to Ukraine's actions, keeping in mind that the occupiers are losing initiative in the Bakhmut area, despite the limited nature of the Ukrainian counterattack in the area. According to ISW, on May 17, Russian troops continued to gradually move in Bakhmut.

The geolocation, located on May 17, show that the Wagner PVC forces gradually moved in the southwestern Bakhmut. One of the Russian troops claims that the occupation forces had an unsuccessful ground attack west of Bakhmut in the Ivanovsky area (6 km west of Bakhmut), but advanced northwest of Bakhmut in the Bakhmut-Khrome, Orikhovo-Vasilivka area) and Minkivka (13 km northwest).

Another militarycock states that the forces of Wagner have completed the capture of the Ukrainian fortified area in the west of Bakhmut and began to put pressure on the Ukrainian forces in a neighboring disputed area. On May 17, the Russian forces conducted limited ground attacks on the Avdiivka-Donetsk line.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces noted that the Russian forces did not carry out ground attacks in the Avdiivka area, but one of the militarys claims that the Russian forces had a failed ground attack on the southwestern approaches to Avdiivka. The General Staff stated that the Ukrainian forces repelled several Russian terrestrial attacks in Marinka (27 km southwest of Avdiivka).

At the same time, one of the Russian troops claims that the invaders have advanced 100 meters in Marinka and that the Ukrainian forces control less than one square kilometer in this city. In addition, it is reported that on May 17, the Russian and Ukrainian forces conducted limited ground attacks in the western part of Donetsk region.

The Tavriya Prescriber of the Defense Forces of Ukraine Valery Shershen stated that the Russian forces had conducted 16 ground attacks on Ukrainian positions in unpaid areas of the western front line in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhya region. The Russian troops claim that the Ukrainian forces tried to break through Russian defensive lines in the Ugelar. We will remind, on May 17 it became known that one of the mercenaries of PEC "Wagner" was captured by Ukrainian defenders in the Bakhmut area.