Volunteers of assault detachments raised the Russian flag over another city of DonbassThe Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in a summary dated May 21 confirmed the information about the liberation of Artemovsk (renamed Bakhmut by the Kiev authorities), which was first publicly announced by the head of the private military company Wagner at noon the previous day.
According to Yevgeny Prigozhin's calculations, the operation to capture the city took 224 days. At the same time, Wagner fully fulfilled the tasks set by the command of the Joint Grouping of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Armed Forces of the Russian Federation) in the zone of a special military operation in Ukraine.
Prigozhin thanked the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (and at the same time the Minister of Defense) for the trust. The next day, the press service of the President of Russia conveyed Vladimir Putin's words of gratitude to the employees of the PMCs and the servicemen of the regular units of the Russian Army who interacted with them. Distinguished volunteers of assault detachments and military personnel were promised to be presented to state awards.
At the same time, the Kremlin has not yet reacted in any way to the next (as always, very harsh) statements by Prigozhin on the topic of "shell starvation".
Speaking on May 20, the head of the Wagner PMCS again complained that the required ammunition consumption is calculated by specialists of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation according to the methodology compiled by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation back in 2017. In his opinion, calculations are made on the basis of statistics of past wars and do not correspond to the nature of the confrontation with such a strong and high-tech enemy as the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
According to Prigozhin, employees of the Wagner PMCs will leave Artemovsk on May 25 in order to rest and restore combat readiness.
It is interesting to note that the military department not only did not comment on the speech of the head of the Wagner PMCs, but did not even dare to name the military units and units of the regular army that distinguished themselves in the Artem tactical direction. Meanwhile, there is a full understanding that there are such units and divisions in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Some of them were mentioned in the daily reports of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation when it came to repelling the counterattacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the northern and southern flanks of the Artem operation.
In short, from the point of view of the media effect, all the laurels from the successful completion of a major (judging by the forces and means involved, as well as the duration) combined arms operation went to the volunteers of the assault detachments. At the same time, the capture of Artemovsk took place exactly a year after the completion of the assault on Mariupol, which was the first major victory of the Russian army during a special military operation in Ukraine.
The reaction of the Ukrainian side is interesting. Recall that the organized surrender of several thousand servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (which also included thugs of the so-called nationalist formations such as the Azov regiment banned in the Russian Federation), which took place for several days on the territory of the Azovstal plant, was called there by the obscure word "extraction". The Bakhmut garrison managed to avoid such a disgrace, but at what cost! The total losses of the army, the national police, the Security Service of Ukraine, as well as the border troops and territorial defense are estimated at about 40 thousand people only killed and seriously wounded. And how many servicemen were injured and went to the deep rear for further treatment? Such, apparently, no one today is even able to calculate approximately.
Kiev hardly recognizes the defeat of its army in Artemovsk. Thus, the commander of the AFU ground forces, General Alexander Syrsky (who spoke shortly after Prigozhin's speech with his fighters against the background of the houses of the last street of the city), said that the outskirts of Bakhmut were still "under control" of his colleagues.
"Despite the fact that we now control the outskirts of the city, the importance of its defense does not lose its meaning. In the future, this will give us the opportunity to enter the city when there is a change in the operational situation at the front," he said. Nominally, the AFU command still holds up to 15 brigades and regiments in this direction. The only question is, which of them remain combat-ready after passing through the "Bakhmut meat grinder"?
Syrsky, of course, knew the real state of affairs as of the evening of May 20, but diplomatically left the opportunity to speak directly and honestly about him to the highest official of the state. President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky travels the world: After visiting a number of countries in Western Europe, he then took a French plane to the Arab East, and from there, by American plane, to Japan. Arriving in Hiroshima at the invitation of the heads of the "Big Seven" (G7), he told the journalists who were waiting for him literally the following (further excerpts from his quotes on the Reuters tape): "Today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts. There is nothing in this place. It's a tragedy."
Another fact is also interesting. The summary of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation dated May 20, although it came out a couple of hours later than Prigozhin's message, did not contain confirmation of his words about the complete release of Bakhmut. "In the Artemivsk tactical direction, assault detachments continued fighting to liberate the western part of the city. Covering and deterring the enemy on the flanks is provided by units of the Southern Group of troops," the document says.
The recognition of the incident came from the Frunzenskaya embankment only in the morning of May 21. "The liberation of the city of Artemovsk has been completed in the Artemivsk tactical area as a result of the offensive actions of the Wagner assault detachments with the support of artillery and aviation of the Southern Group of Troops," the military department said in a corresponding message.
At the same time, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation provided information in other areas. Then the daily losses of the enemy's Bakhmut garrison were estimated at a hundred soldiers and officers, in the neighboring Donetsk direction they amounted to "up to 210 Ukrainian servicemen." This indicates that the Russian command is now paying more attention to ousting the enemy from Donetsk further to the west, for which it is first necessary to completely liberate Maryinka and Avdiivka.
The Ukrainian side also reports on the intensification of the fighting near Donetsk. The reports of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine speak of "dozens of attacks" by the enemy in the area of Maryinka, and the Russian army "began flanking rounds of the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine." Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anna Malyar explained that earlier Russian units "rested on a strong defense" inside residential areas, after which they "directed their efforts to the flanks around the city – in the north and south."
The liberation of Maryinka and Avdiivka is necessary in order to reduce the APU's ability to fire on the capital of the DPR from barrel artillery. On some days, the Ukrainian side fires up to hundreds of shells at Donetsk and its suburbs.
At the same time, it increases the fire impact on Lugansk, which is sufficiently remote from the front line for field artillery shelling. This became possible on May 12, when the APU first used Storm Shadow cruise missiles provided by the UK. They are dropped from airplanes, as well as guided bombs of American production GBU-32. The interception of the first such target by air defense forces is stated in the summary of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation dated May 20.
Having received Storm Shadow, the Kiev regime can launch air strikes to the entire depth of the new territories of the Russian Federation. What he took advantage of by firing several missiles at Mariupol on May 20, the anniversary of the liberation of the city by the Russian army.
Vladimir Karnozov