Ukrainian tanks join attacks along a 60-mile front, Russia says
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Ukrainian servicemen ride atop of a tank on a road to the frontline town of Bakhmut, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 12, 2023.
REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova
Moscow has been preparing since last autumn for an expected onslaught by Ukraine, and built lines of anti-tank fortifications along hundreds of miles of front.
KYIV, Ukraine – Russia said on Friday, May 12, that Ukrainian forces had attacked Russian positions along almost 100 km (60 miles) of the front line near Soledar, a small mining town near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s forces seized in January.
As anticipation grows of a Ukrainian counteroffensive aiming to drive Moscow’s forces out of the land they have seized in the last 15 months, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar confirmed earlier reports that Ukraine had made some gains near Bakhmut, but appeared to play down suggestions of a wider push.
The Russian Defense Ministry said 26 attacks involving over a thousand troops and up to 40 tanks near Soledar on Thursday had been repulsed. In one area, Russian forces had fallen back to “more favorable positions” near a reservoir northwest of Bakhmut.
Reuters was not able to verify the battlefield reports, and there was no immedi
