Ukraine confirms Russian troops have withdrawn from some areas in Bakhmut
The commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that Russian troops had retreated in certain sectors of the front near Bakhmut.
"Thanks to a well-thought-out defense in the Bakhmut direction, we are getting the results of the effective actions of our units. In particular, we carry out effective counterattacks. In some sectors of the front, the enemy could not hold the onslaught of Ukrainian defenders and retreated to a distance of up to 2 kilometers," the UNIAN news agency quoted the military commander as saying.
Syrskyi noted that despite the significant concentration of troops and statements by the Russian military about their intentions to take Bakhmut before May 9, Russia was not able to capture the Ukrainian city.
Earlier, the retreat of the Russian military was reported by the founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin. In a video published on May 9, he was outraged by the fact that soldiers of one of the units of the Russian Armed Forces abandoned defense lines south of Bakhmut and fled leaving open about 3 square kilometers. Gazprom's military unit Fakel also refused to go to these positions. According to Prigozhin, the Wagner mercenaries had to "somehow" close the resulting hole. As it turned out, these were the soldiers of the Russian 72nd Motorized Rifle brigade who left their positions.