Ukrainian servicemen gather at a military truck near the frontline city of Bakhmut, Donetsk region, on April 30, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine has promised that its long-awaited counteroffensive would free parts of the nation now under capture. Then on Sunday, May 14, Moscow's Ministry of Defense said that two senior Russian military commanders had been killed in eastern Ukraine.
A statement released by Russian authorities on Sunday stated that they were successfully fending off Ukrainian assaults in the area of the disputed town of Bakhmut. But they admitted that high-ranking military officers had been killed in action.
Loss of Two Senior Officers
According to a Politico article, the ministry stated that Colonel Vyacheslav Makarov, head of the 4th motorized rifle brigade, personally led the battle from the front. A third attempt was repelled, but the brigade commander was mortally wounded and later died while his troops were being evacuated.
The ministry added that Colonel Yevgeny Brovko, the deputy commander of the army corps, was reportedly among the dead.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country is preparing for a big counteroffensive during a meeting held in Berlin on Sunday morning. The accusations that Kyiv plans to attack Russian forces deep within the neighboring nation, however, were all dismissed by him.
He said that Ukraine needs and is waiting for the resources to launch a strike on Russian land because they had neither the time nor the strength to do so.
The Ukrainian leader said, "We are preparing a counterattack for the illegally occupied areas based on our constitutionally defined legitimate borders, which are recognized internationally."
Conflict Among Groups
Despite the fact that the two sides have been at an impasse for weeks, Ukraine claims to have achieved significant territory advances in recent days near Bakhmut.
The embattled city has also played host to a growing rift between rival Russian groups entrusted with waging Moscow's war.
In a series of increasingly combative videos, Wagner Group boss and prominent oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin has lashed out at Russian military chiefs, alleging that they fail to provide ammunition to his fighters on the front line and that top generals are trying to "deceive" President Vladimir Putin about what is going on on the ground.
Russian authorities argued that army moves near Bakhmut amounted to nothing more than a strategic repositioning, but Prigozhin was furious and stated that, in actuality, the front line "unfortunately is called a rout and not a regrouping."
Germany-Ukraine Ties
Meanwhile, on Saturday, May 13, Germany said it would be sending Ukraine new military supplies worth about $3 billion. Everything would include tanks, anti-aircraft weapons, and ammunition.
Ukraine's minister of defense, Boris Pistorius, said Berlin sent the most recent supply of weaponry to Kyiv to prove that Germany is serious about its assistance. He said, "Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes."
