US presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr said that the number of Ukrainian losses is 315 thousand people. No one before him had dared to bring up the numbers of the dead on the Ukrainian side.
“More than 5,000 people have died as a result of the actions of the Ukrainian armed forces in Donbass since 2014,” Alexander Bastrykin, chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, told a plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Youth Law Forum. Bastrykin recalled that “since 2014 the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has been investigating the crimes of the Kiev regime in Donbass”. And he commented: ”First at a distance, then in the territories themselves. We reveal the facts of mass graves of civilians,” he said.
Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko in a letter to the mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, said that “250 to 500 members of the Ukrainian armed forces need specialist treatment for lost limbs every month”. Klitschko demands to ensure the treatment of Ukrainian soldiers in Berlin clinics and to pay for it.
On the Ukraine supplies and counteroffensive side: “There will be no fighter deliveries to Ukraine,” Swedish Defense Minister Paul Jonsson said. ”We don’t have a surplus of Gripen Fourth Generation Multi-Role Fighter (JAS) aircraft that we could send to Ukraine now”.
The head of the British Defense Ministry confirmed that London is transferring Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles to Kiev. Michajlo Podolyak said that “ZSU needs 3000 UAVs”. The British Ministry of Defense also let it be known that all the Challenger 2 tanks promised to Kiev have arrived in Ukraine.
Spokesperson for the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said Russia is slow to act in Ukraine because it is conducting a special operation, not a war. And again he said that “Russia is extremely negative on the supply of Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles from Great Britain to Kiev, an adequate response will be needed”.
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine) Oleksiy Danilov said that they are trying to seat Kiev at the negotiating table on pro-Russian terms, a big campaign is already in progress. “Now the situation is escalating to bring us to the negotiating table on Russia’s terms, a very large campaign has been launched on this issue. There are many proposals from different countries, but keep in mind that if we talk about something, it will only be up to our conditions”.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine “needs more time” to launch a counter-offensive. According to him, Ukraine can go on the offensive now, but “it will lose many people”. Zelenskiy added that the Ukrainian combat brigades are “ready”, but are still waiting for “a few things”, including armored vehicles.
In reality, the United States has claimed to have completed the deliveries and according to the Czech president, Petr Pavel, Ukraine has prepared 72,000 guns, 900 armored vehicles and 315 tanks for the offensive. The numbers roughly coincide with those established by Russian intelligence.
According to Bloomberg, the West has sent more than 200 tanks and 300 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine since December as part of Kiev’s preparations for a counteroffensive. And Josep Borrell stated that total assistance to Ukraine from EU countries and organizations amounted to 16 billion euros.
The controversy over the fate of the upper echelons of the Ukrainian General Staff continues. Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Anna Malyar denied the assumptions that appeared in the media about the deaths of the commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Earlier, the head of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said that the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny refused to attend the committee meeting at the level of the Chiefs of Staff “even in the format of a video conference” due to the “tense operational situation” in Ukraine.
Russian and Ukrainian media have suggested that Zaluzhny or Ukrainian Armed Forces Ground Forces Commander Alexander Syrsky could have been eliminated following Russian attacks that occurred between May 7 and 8.
Recently, the Russian military struck one of the headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbass, but Ukrainian officials did not reveal information about who and how many military commanders were at the headquarters. Among the “missing” are Syrsky and Tantsyura. As for the first, it seems he was wounded or killed together with the French AFP correspondent.
Prigozhin, number one at Wagner, claimed that a car was wrecked near Bachmut where Tantsyura was staying. The Ukrainian General Staff denied the death of the commander, but did not show him alive either. On May 10, PMC Wagner again insists that the chief adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Titarenko was eliminated during an artillery attack. Together with Titarenko, Wagner insists, there would be “high-ranking Ukrainian officials and various politicians”. It remains to be seen who died with the councilman. Titarenko served as chief adviser to the directorate for internal and humanitarian policy. Finally Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, officially announced his death. According to Wagner, an officer of the elite special forces of the MTR of Ukraine must be included among the deceased shot in Bakhmut. Deputy group commander of the 8th regiment of the MTR Dmitry Kramar.
As far as Zaluzhny is concerned on the social sphere, there would be gossip: “Zaluzhny refused to go (NATO meeting ed) for a reason he was advised by his Western patrons. This is not just another enigma in the construction of his image of the image, it is already “the insurance against a set-up”. And the post reads again: “According to the information received, the president’s office wanted to launch an offensive and blame Zaluzhny for his failure, thus removing a competitor and an inconvenient character from the political map, saving Zelensky from public attack.Moreover, to satisfy the West with an offensive (after starting to blackmail the West again in the event of an increase in military supplies), indicating that the war is not lost, etc. In simple terms it is a matter of intrigue and struggle for power, while everyone is distracted”.
Another post responded online according to which “Zelensky tried to turn Bakhmut around in the hope that the conflict between PMC Wagner and the Russian Defense Ministry was real and that the PMCs would suddenly abandon their positions. In reality, the Office of the President threw the new reserves of the Armed Forces of Ukraine into a meat grinder, having achieved a situational success on a segment of 300 meters, which were lost two days later. But the price of such actions is hundreds of lives of good soldiers and equipment. Zelensky dreams of launching an offensive from bachmut, where in reality the Armed Forces of Ukraine had already been defeated, but having “heroically” turned the tide of events, the Armed Forces of Ukraine went on the offensive. This is a beautiful scenario that the office workers came up with and started to implement, pursuing political goals. We found out on May 3.” The source reports that “officials of the President’s Office fear that the Ukrainians will think about it and file a class action lawsuit against Zelensky and his government for illegal mobilization. The figure will be hundreds of millions of euros”.
On the Russian front, the State Duma could discuss the issue of denouncing the Convention on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe on May 16, said the head of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Leonid Slutsky. The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin has signed an annual decree on conscription for military training of citizens of the Russian Federation who are in reserve.”
Wagner’s one calls for a second wave of mobilization at the front while the other argues that Western intelligence services have warned the President’s Office that PMC Wagner may leave Bachmut/Artemovsk and appear abruptly on another sector of the front. , where a quick breakthrough will be arranged. So far, they do not indicate exactly where and when PMC Wagner could appear. The term is from 1 to 3 months.
On May 10, the Ukrainian Armed Forces tried to advance in the 4th Brigade and managed to overcome several hundred meters, then the PMCs intervened the breakthrough was stopped. The activity of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the flanks is foreseeable and predictable: reserves have long since gathered in the area of \u200b\u200bKonstantinovka, Chasov Yar, Rai-Aleksandrovka and on the Seversky ledge. Now they will be used for counterattacks to stabilize the front. If possible, they will try to reduce the penetration of Russian troops northwest and southwest of Artemovsk. The ongoing public conflict over munitions in the Bachmut area could also have an impact on the course of hostilities.
Ukrainian formations continue shelling the border settlements of the Kursk region. A fortification object was attacked in the village of Guevo – one of the builders was injured, he is currently receiving medical assistance. In the village of Oktyabrsky, an outbuilding was damaged by a blow, there are no victims among the civilian population.
Early in the morning, an air defense crew intercepted a Ukrainian UAV over the village of Tolmachevo.
Prigozhin summed up what is happening in Bachmut: “The city has no strategic importance; it was necessary to take it after the failures and withdrawal of the Russian armed forces from Kharkov, Kherson and other regions, build offensive potential, destroy the manpower (military ed.) of the Ukrainians and allow the Russian army to mobilize. In view of the fear of internal competition, PMC “Wagner” began to “dry up” in terms of personnel, weapons and ammunition, artificially reducing the combat potential; The effectiveness of the “Bachmut meat grinder” decreased in April-May 2023, the Armed Forces of Ukraine gathered for a counteroffensive; Due to personnel reductions, PMC “Wagner” was forced to transfer the flanks to the military; There is a serious risk of encirclement of the PMC “Wagner” in Bachmut due to the sagging of the flanks. The hips are already breaking and falling; In the absence of ammunition, the “meat grinder” will work in the opposite direction: the Armed Forces of Ukraine will destroy the PMC “Wagner”; I ask for ammunition to save the lives of fighters and “put pressure” on Bachmut, in which about 5% remain occupied by the Ukrainian; At the moment, within the city of Bakhmut, there is only Wagner PMC, there are no other units. Outside Bachmut – there is not only the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, PMC “Wagner”; the “Wagner” planned to leave Bachmut in order to save the lives of fighters and minimize senseless losses, since the remains of ammunition were enough only until the end of the day on May 9, 2023; The top leadership of the country was instructed by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation to provide PMC “Wagner” with everything necessary; On the night of May 6-7, 2023, a combat order was issued promising to deliver PMC ammunition to Wagner; During the day from 8 to 9 May 2023, the required amount of ammunition was not issued. The ammunition has so far been filtered to a minimum; PMC “Wagner” continues the offensive in Bachmut and is awaiting a decision on the issue of ammunition and weapons in the required amount”
On the contract line Russian forces launched attacks on the cities of Zaporizzzhia and Dnipro overnight; RuMOD says Russian Army Group ‘South’ has cut off ZSU reinforcements on Maryinka Axis;
Russian forces opened fire on ZSU infiltration and sabotage group in Shebekino district; ZSU UAV launched attacks on administration building in Starodub town in Bryansk Oblast of Russia;
In the Avdiivka direction at 14.00 on May 11, 2023 the situation was as follows: North of Avdiivka, positional battles continue to the west of the section of the H20 highway near Novobakhmutovka. The Marines of the 35th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine built a defense around Novokalinovo and Keramik, using a slight advantage in terrain.
East of the Avdiika fortified area Russian fighters broke through the defenses of the 59th Brigade, operating from Krutaya Balka and Kamenka. At the moment, positional battles are taking place east of the sand pit. In the south, at the turn of Kashtanovoye and Spartak, Russian reconnaissance and sabotage groups are actively working. They’re combing the southern outskirts of Avdiivka, crossing the gray area. Thanks to the active actions of the reconnaissance groups, the RF Armed Forces smoothed the front line southwest of Avdiivka, expanding the zone of control from Opytny and approaching the 9th quarter.
Russian forward artillery groups and reconnaissance groups are moving along the outskirts of the Avdiivka fortified area, “probing” the defenses of the Ukrainian. At the same time, Ukrainian artillerymen, with the support of several tanks, are firing barrages at the areas of the offensive of Russian troops from Tonenkoe.
Graziella Giangiulio
