Ukrainian counterattack around Bakhmut kills Russian commander, deputy
KYIV, Ukraine—Russian forces launched a wave of drones and missiles at Ukraine over the weekend, while a Ukrainian counterattack continued on the outskirts of Bakhmut, killing a Russian commander and his deputy.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that it had launched a missile attack in western Ukraine’s Ternopil region. The missiles hit and killed Ukrainian soldiers and destroyed arms depots and Western military systems that Ukraine was planning to send to the front line, the ministry said.
Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, said the Russian missile strikes Saturday night and Sunday morning had hit civilian buildings, not military targets.
Ternopil—a western Ukrainian regional capital that has suffered little damage during the war—was hit around the time that a band from the city, Tvorchi, took the stage representing Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest with a tune about the defense of Mariupol. Two people were injured in the strike, according to local officials.
“Ternopil is the name of our hometown, which was bombed by Russia while we sang on the Eurovision stage about our steel hearts, indomitability and will,” the band posted on Instagram. “Europe, unite against evil for the sake of peace!”
In addition, Ukraine’s air force said at least 18 drones were shot down overnight, the majority of them Iranian-made Shaheds. Officials didn’t say how many of the drones made it through. Some 30 civilians were injured in the missile and drone attacks.
Meanwhile, battles continued in and around the eastern city of Bakhmut. Russian forces have continued pushing to take the last Ukrainian-held blocks inside the city, while Ukrainian troops have clawed back territory on the outskirts in recent days in a surprise counterattack.
Ukrainian officials say they have taken back more than 6 square miles of territory in the past week, and Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner Group, the paramilitary force that has led the assault on the city, has complained publicly through the week that Russian forces have abandoned positions that his soldiers spent weeks taking.
In previous weeks, he has criticized Russia’s military leadership, complaining that they had failed to provide his troops with enough ammunition.
Over the weekend, the British Ministry of Defense wrote on Twitter that the Russian 72nd Separate Motor Rifle Brigade had likely withdrawn from a strategically important position in the southern parts of Bakhmut. The ministry also said the Russian military had been significantly degraded over the past year, with conscripts replacing many professional soldiers, leaving many units severely short-handed.
“It is unlikely to be an organization which will effectively cohere large-scale military effect along the 1,200 km front line under stress,” the ministry wrote on Sunday.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that Ukrainian forces had launched attacks to the north and south of Bakhmut. The statement didn’t address recent indications of Ukrainian advances, but said all attempts to break through Russian lines were repelled.
Outside of Bakhmut, the Russian military said its 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade had repelled three attacks by Ukrainian forces, but that commander Col. Vyacheslav Makarov was injured and died while being evacuated from the battlefield.
His deputy, Col. Yevgeny Brovko, who was commanding on a different part of the front line, was likewise killed by shrapnel wounds.
Russian state media said a number of explosions had rocked the city of Donetsk, which has been occupied by Russia and its proxies since 2014. State media said air defenses had been working in the city since the night before.
Write to Ian Lovett at ian.lovett@wsj.com and Thomas Grove at thomas.grove@wsj.com
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