Donetsk: Two Russian commanders killed in action in Ukraine

(CNN) – Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that two high-ranking Russian military officers had been killed in eastern Ukraine, in the latest major casualties for Moscow. in a fierce war with its western neighbour.

The ministry said the two officers – Colonel Vyacheslav Makarov and Colonel Yevgeny Brovko – were killed while commanding Russian forces in the Donetsk region. It did not specify when or exactly where they were killed.

“The commander of the 4th motorized rifle brigade, Colonel Vyacheslav Makarov, who was at the front, personally led the battle,” said the statement of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The ministry said that Brovko, deputy commander of the Army Corps for Military-Political Action, had been leading the troops in “repelling enemy attacks” and “died heroically after being hit by multiple shrapnel.”

The Donetsk region of Ukraine includes the city of Bakhmut, which witnessed some of the fiercest and fiercest battles of the war.

A months-long offensive by Russian forces, including Wagner’s mercenaries, drove thousands from their homes and left the area devastated. But despite the huge amounts of manpower that Russia poured into to seize the city, it was unable to take full control, and in the past week it has suffered heavy losses in the region.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said in a Telegram post on Sunday that Ukrainian forces managed to take control of more than 10 Russian positions near Bakhmut.

Maliar described the situation in Bakhmut as “extremely hot”.

On Sunday, the Ukrainian military reported that Pakhmut and Marinka in eastern Ukraine were still the “epices of the fighting”.

The enemy continues to focus its main efforts on the Liman, Bakhmut, Avdeevka and Marinka directions. In total, about 30 combat clashes took place in the aforementioned areas over the past day.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine had made “gross attempts to break through the defense of our forces in the north and south of Artemovsk,” referring to Bakhmut by its Russian name.

All attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were repulsed. “There was no breakthrough in the defense of the Russian forces,” the statement read.

Also in eastern Ukraine, Russian targets in the occupied city of Luhansk have been hit by missile strikes in the past few days.

The city became an important center of the Russian invasion effort and has seldom been subjected to Ukrainian attacks since the war began.

But two rockets hit the area on Friday and another blast there on Saturday.

Some Russian bloggers have suggested, without providing evidence, that Ukraine used cruise missiles recently provided by the UK. But Kiev also has Ukrainian-made Grom missiles, which have a range as far as Luhansk.

Unconfirmed reports said elsewhere Russia may have shot down four military aircraft On its territory on Saturday, and if this is true, it will constitute an important coup for Ukraine.

One Russian media outlet said that at least two fighter jets – a Su-34 fighter/bomber and a Su-35 fighter – and two Mi-8 helicopters have crashed.

The plane was reportedly lost in Russia’s Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine.

The occurrence of multiple incidents within Russian territory at the same time would be unprecedented. Some analysts believe that Ukraine’s air defenses may have been pushed forward as the Russian Air Force uses more “gliding munitions” that can shoot at targets from a distance.