“The enemy has gone on the defensive. A significant decrease in all active enemy activity is observed, with an increase in the number of heavy weapons fire, mainly artillery and mortars. Defense forces are working,” said the commander of the Ground Forces on the Telegram platform.
Sirskis has also published a video showing how the aerial reconnaissance of the separate strike battalion “Aidar” is taking place in this direction.
On May 25, Yevgenii Prigozhin, the founder of the Russian mercenary group “Wagner”, announced that the removal of the Wagnerites from Bakhmut has begun.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirmed that in the suburbs these units have already been replaced by soldiers of the Russian army, however, the Wagnerites still remain in the city itself.
On Wednesday, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Malyar confirmed that the Defense Forces control the southwestern outskirts of Bakhmut.
Ukrainian defenders also control the entrance to the city.
According to Malyara, Ukrainian soldiers are preventing the occupiers from regrouping and replacing the Wagnerians with regular army units.