In an unusual late-night post on its Telegram channel, the Russian Ministry of Defense has pushed back on claims that Ukrainian forces broke through parts of the front line around the eastern city of Bakhmut.

The military’s General Staff said Thursday that Russia also carried out six missile attacks. The Ukrainian military says Russia launched nearly 50 airstrikes over the last day as intense fighting puts pressure on forward Russian positions west of the city of Bakhmut. And Japan's finance minister announced Thursday that Japan will provide $1 billion to help Ukraine's neighbors in taking refugees from the war-stricken country. The UK has donated Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine, the British defense ministry confirmed Thursday. Indirect fire in the region has intensified ahead of what observers expect to be a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Meanwhile, the Russians have claimed they are eliminating deployment points of the Ukrainian military. Russia's military shelled several towns and villages in the Zaporizhzhia region, injuring civilians and damaging property, according to the Ukrainian official leading the regional military administration there. Kyiv has reported 'effective counterattacks' around the eastern city despite constant Russian bombardment.Ī fire fighter works to put out a fire at a house destroyed by a Russian attack on Malokaterynivka, in the Zaporizhzhia Region of Ukraine, on Thursday, May 11th Dmytro Smoliyenko/Ukrinform/Abaca/Sipa USA What Ukraine says: A report from the Ukrainian military's General Staff Thursday described a 'dynamic' situation in Bakhmut, claiming Kyiv's forces are heaping pressure on Russian fighters and probing weak spots in their lines.Ī Ukrainian military officer said Ukraine is on the offensive in Bakhmut this week after months of defense. “The enemy suffers significant losses in manpower and hardware,” the defense officials claimed. It said troops are battling to repel Ukrainian troops 'in the direction of Maloilyinovka' - apparently a reference to a village in the Bakhmut area. The defense ministry said Russian assault units are making progress in the western part of Bakhmut with air and artillery support. “The statements spread by individual telegram channels about ‘defense breakthroughs’ in various sections of the line of contact are not true,” the ministry statement reads.Īt least two Russian military bloggers have reported a deteriorating situation for Russian forces around the city, where a battle of attrition has been grinding on for months. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country still needs “a bit more time” before it launches the counteroffensive, in order to allow some more of the promised Western military aid to arrive in the country. These shaping operations could continue for many days before the bulk of any planned Ukrainian offensive, according to the senior US military official. When Ukraine launched a counteroffensive late last summer in the southern and northeastern parts of the country, it was similarly preceded by air attacks to shape the battlefield. It's a standard tactic made prior to major combined operations. Shaping involves striking targets such as weapons depots, command centers and armor and artillery systems to prepare the battlefield for advancing forces. Ukrainian forces have begun “shaping” operations in advance of a highly-anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces, a senior US military official and senior Western official tell CNN. Zelensky speaks during an interview that aired on BBC, saying 'We need a bit more time,' referring to a long-awaited counter-offensive.

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