JAKARTA - Russia's Defense Ministry said on Sunday two of its military commanders were killed in eastern Ukraine, as Kyiv troops renewed attempts to break through Moscow's defenses in the contested city of Bakhmut.
In a daily briefing, the ministry said Commander Vyacheslav Makarov of the 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade and Deputy Commander Yevgeny Brovko from a different unit, were killed trying to repel the Ukrainian attacks.
It said Makarov had led troops from the front lines, while Brovko "died a heroic death, suffering multiple shrapnel wounds".
Previously, the Ruisa Ministry of Defense rarely announced the death of military commandos in its daily briefings.
The ministry also said Ukrainian forces carried out attacks in northern and southern Bakhmut areas over the past 24 hours. However, they failed to penetrate the Russian defenses.
"All attacks by units of the Ukrainian armed forces have been repelled," the ministry said, according to Reuters on May 15.
Meanwhile, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary squad that spearheaded the Russian assault on Bakhmut, said his troops had advanced up to 130 meters (400 feet) over the last 24 hours.
Prigozhin, in an audio statement on Telegram, said his troops had taken control of 28 multi-story buildings in the western district of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces are still operating. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops, he said, controlled 20 buildings and an area of 1.69 square km (0.65 square miles).
Separately, Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar confirmed on Sunday that Ukrainian forces "continue to advance in the Bakhmut sector on the outskirts of the city."
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"Our units captured more than ten enemy positions north and south of Bakhmut, clearing a large area of forest near Ivanivske. Enemy soldiers from various units were captured," he explained on the Telegram messaging app.
It is known that neither Ukrainian nor Russian troops have been able to fully control the city, despite months of fierce fighting that caused heavy losses for both sides.
Last week, Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its troops had withdrawn north of Bakhmut amid a wave of Ukrainian attacks, but Kyiv has dismissed suggestions that its long-planned major counteroffensive had officially begun.
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