Bakhmut (pictured in April) remains a pivotal city in Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression. On Sunday, Russia said two of its senior officers have been killed in fighting in the region. File Photo by Oleg Petrasyuk/EPA-EFE
May 14 (UPI) — Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday two of its senior commanders have died in fighting near Bakhmut, a pivotal city in eastern Ukraine.
Russian and Ukrainian forces have grudgingly fought for control of the city for months, with Russia at one time claiming it had control of the city only to see Ukraine allegedly make gains recently.
Russian officials said it was fighting back Ukraine’s latest attack when the officers were killed. Col. Vyacheslav Makarov, the commander of the 4th motorized rifle brigade, died after being injured and evacuated from the battlefield.
“Two enemy attacks were repelled, and the soldiers of the brigade destroyed three tanks, four infantry fighting vehicles, and two armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday, according to the state-run news agency TASS.
“During the defense against the third attack, the brigade commander was seriously wounded and died during the evacuation from the battlefield.
Col. Yevgeny Brovko, the deputy commander of the army corps for military-political work, died of multiple shrapnel wounds sustained during a battle, the ministry said.
Russia had charged Ukraine with attacking them inside its borders, including a drone attack on the Kremlin recently. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his troops are planning a counteroffensive inside Ukraine and simply don’t have the capability at this time to strike Russia on its territory.
“We have neither the time nor the strength [to attack Russian soil],” Zelensky said while visiting Germany on Sunday. “We don’t have weapons to spare with which we could do this.
“We are preparing a counterattack for the illegally occupied areas based on our constitutionally-defined legitimate borders, which are recognized internationally.”
Yevgeny Prigozhin, a founder of the mercenary Wagner Group, has complained about Russian military chiefs in regard to Bakhmut, claiming it was not receiving the ammunition it needed and that Russian officers in the field were deceiving Russian President Vladimir Putin.