Map of the situation near Bakhmut. Screenshot from the video
Day 445: May 14
Today there is a lot of good news from the Bakhmut direction. Here, Ukrainians finally managed to starve out Russian troops in a salient on the southern flank and collapse Russian defense by multiple kilometers at one time.
Previously, I told you that after Ukrainians undercut Russians by moving along the canal and pushing Russians from their positions in front of Klischiivka, Russians in the forest were caught in the operational encirclement. Russian forces tried to resist for several days, anticipating that Wagner troops or airborne units would conduct an unblocking operation.
Unfortunately for the Russians, the unblocking operation failed. Recently released footage shows that Russian forces tried to push Ukrainians from the tree lines in front of Ivanivske in order to secure control over the fields and allow for a safe retreat. Russian forces even sent a tank to help establish control over the field and also provide cover for the retreating troops, but it was destroyed by Ukrainian artillery already on the approach.
In the meantime, the problems for Russians in the forest were exacerbated by minute, as Ukrainian artillery also managed to destroy several shelters with ammunition. It looks like Russians also lost connection and could not communicate with the mainland. As a result, when Ukrainians started their storming operation, Russians did not understand that they got completely surrounded and fought until they were eliminated. On 14 May, a Ukrainian fighter reported that they completely cleared the forest.
Later, Russian sources confirmed this information and reported losing two colonels. One colonel was the commander of the 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade. Another colonel was second-in-command. Both died from lethal wounds, so the whole brigade now has no high command.