Ukraine claims gains on Bakhmut front

Ukraine forces are advancing along parts of the front line against Russian troops near the war-torn eastern town of Bakhmut.

Ukraine forces are advancing along parts of the front line against Russian troops near the war-torn eastern town of Bakhmut.

“Our soldiers are moving forward in some areas of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower,” Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, said on social media on Saturday ( May 13).

“The defensive operation in the Bakhmut direction continues.”

Russia acknowledged on Friday its forces had fallen back north of Ukraine’s ruined eastern city in a retreat the head of Russia’s Wagner private army called a “rout” not a “regrouping”.

In its latest bulletin, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces gained control over another block in Bakhmut.

“The units of the Airborne Forces provided support to the assault units and pinned down the enemy on the flanks,” it said.

Videos posted on Russian social media, meanwhile, showed a helicopter apparently being shot down over Russia’s Bryansk region, bordering Ukraine.

The state news agency TASS cited an emergency services official as saying preliminary information indicated the engine caught fire before the crash near Klintsy, 40km (25 miles) from the border.