The statements of some telegram channels about “defence breakthroughs” in various parts of the contact line in Ukraine do not correspond to reality. On this subject reported Ministry of Defense of Russia.
The department noted that the general situation in the area of the military operation is under control. Specifically, according to the ministry:
active operations are not carried out in the direction of Kupyansk, during the day the actions of three enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups were suppressed; in the direction of Krasnolimansky, the group of troops “Center” repelled two attacks from company tactical groups of the enemy; in the direction of Donetsk, three enemy attempts at reconnaissance in force were thwarted and eight attacks on the positions of Russian troops were successfully repulsed; assault detachments continue to liberate the western part of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) with air and artillery support; subdivisions of the “southern” troop group are active in blocking Avdiivka and capturing Maryinka; currently, a battle is in progress to repel an attack of an enemy unit in the direction of Maloilinovka, the enemy undergoes important losses in men and material; there are no active operations in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions.
Reports of the alleged start of the Ukrainian counteroffensive
On the evening of May 11, Russian military correspondents wrote in their telegraph channels about the possible start of a counter-offensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
Around 8:00 p.m. Yevgeny Poddubny, VGTRK journalist informed that the Ukrainian army is trying to surround the Russian troops in the direction of Bakhmut and that they have already made a breakthrough in the Soledar region. Also, according to him, columns of military equipment were moving all day towards the Belgorod region.
“Within the next 24 hours, apparently, the regime in Kyiv will begin to step up its efforts in the south. In the Orekhov region, in order to tie up our troops with battles, in the Gulyai Polya region in order to break through the first line of defense. We will assume that the enemy counteroffensive has begun,” he wrote.
Military correspondent of “Komsomolskaya Pravda” Alexander Kots around 9:00 p.m. confirmed information about the offensive in the direction of Bakhmut, and also reported “the enemy’s use of chemical ammunition, which, after inhalation, they lose consciousness”, in the direction of Orekhov.
Voenkor Alexander Simonov with a difference of 20 minutes writing that in the Bogdanovka region near Bakhmut (Artemovsk (Bakhmut)) “the breakthrough of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was successful”.
At the same time, the former head of the Ministry of Defense of the DPR Igor Strelkov Express confidence that there is no question of a serious counter-offensive yet. According to him, these were local counterattacks with the aim of “opening the ring” previously assembled by Wagner around the western part of Bakhmut.
RT television channel writing that a landing operation of the armed forces of Ukraine is being prepared on the right bank of the Dnieper (Later, the message was deleted. – Ed. approx.). According to him, the accumulation of landing craft was observed in Berislav. Also, RT informed that, according to preliminary data, the bulk of the attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was recorded in the direction of Donetsk: “There is an active movement of columns with military equipment.”
The Ukrainian army attacks the Russian forces near Maiorsk in the direction of Gorlovka and has already achieved local successes, informed military commander Semyon Pegov.
“Near Mayorsk the enemy also launched the attack. There have been active clashes since the morning. There are reports from WarGonzo sources on the front line about the local successes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and on this sector of the front,” the message reads.
Refutation of the counterattack of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
At 9:25 p.m., the president of the movement “We are together with Russia” Vladimir Rogov informed who cannot confirm the information about the start of a full-scale offensive on the Zaporizhzhia front.
“All of our guys who defend these lines, with whom I managed to quickly get in touch, also do not confirm the information that has spread on the network,” he added.
Soon after, military correspondents began to refute their reports or soften the wording. “Yes, comrades. Take it easy. I did not write that the enemy was advancing on Belgorod. Read carefully. Active movement of weapons and military equipment in the Kharkiv region, address to his Poddubny readers.
After a while he writing that “the enemy is fighting local battles as part of a grand plan”. “I gave no reason to panic. Rather, for vigilance and sporting anger,” the military commander said.
At the same time, their colleague Vladislav Ugolny accused The media say they “ate crap”, because there was a “demonstrative stuffing carried out live” (including on the channel of Ugolny himself) in order to “show how our media disperse ** *** and panic on a dish”. The military commissioner said it was impossible to work with such “disgusting fact-checking”, and that journalists should have double-checked the information, as they are responsible for its dissemination.
Alexander Kots did not make obvious denials, but reported, with reference to his sources, that in the direction of Orekhov and in the direction of Gulyaipol-Polohy “the active advance of the enemy No ‘ and all within the bounds of decency “.
Meanwhile, the head of Novaya Kakhovka Vladimir Leontiev declared TASS that information about the accumulation of boats and equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the right bank of the Dnieper for a possible landing on the left bank of the Kherson region should be taken with great skepticism. According to him, any landing operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in this direction is doomed to failure.
At 23:00, the Russian Ministry of Defense officially insured that “the statements broadcast by individual telegram channels about the ‘defence breakthroughs’ that have taken place in various parts of the line of contact do not correspond to reality.”
After that, journalist Anastasia Kashevarova writing in his chain of telegrams that the military correspondents made no stuffing. According to her, “the guys wrote the absolute truth that the equipment is coming, the fields are cleared, the contingent is increased in all directions, they are tearing up the flanks in Artemovsk (Bakhmut).”
“And all along the front, boys are dying every day. This does not mean that everything is on fire in all directions and that thousands of miles are on fire. This means that the forehead begins to move noticeably. There was preparation before that, but now it’s a more active phase. The fighting does not stop,” she said without reference to sources.
Despite this statement, Semyon Pegov tried refrain from wording indicating the start of a counter-offensive: “The enemy is advancing. Somewhere more, somewhere less, but it is and it will have an impact on the further development of events. The offensive did not start today or yesterday, the enemy daily seeks our weak points and tries to reach them.
On the afternoon of May 11, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner PMC, reported that Ukrainian armed forces broke through the flank defenses near Bakhmut (Artemivsk). He also accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of ruse, who previously said the Ukrainian Armed Forces counteroffensive was postponed.
“On the direction of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut), units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine enter the flanks, and, unfortunately, in some places they are successful. We go further to Artemovsk (Bakhmut) in order to close it. As I have said many times, the plan of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is in action: we go, we smack them, they smack us,” his press service quoted the PMC founder as saying.
Prigozhin also noted that the Wagnerians continue “to carry out combat missions in a terrible shortage of ammunition, in a shortage of shells”, and that the Ministry of Defense, according to him, has not kept its promises.
Read the Latest Ukraine War News on The Eastern Herald.
