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Amid the ongoing positional battles along the front lines in Ukraine, new victories have recently been proclaimed by the warring sides.
In the Kharkiv region, the front line have reportedly changed. The Ukrainian military launched a counteroffensive and achieved some success. After several days of fighting, units of the DPR, LPR and Russian Guards left the town of Russian Lozovaya and other nearby villages. The AFU established a stronghold in the village of Stary Saltov. It is reported that the village was occupied by militants of the notorious Kraken special forces unit of the Azov nationalist regiment, who are known for openly conducting a “hunt” for civilians with a pro-Russian position in the Kharkiv region.
The AFU continue sabotage operations north of Tsirkuny village, and are actively strengthening positions in the Chuguev area.
In turn, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are strengthening their positions in the area of Cossack Lopan. Clashes are reported in the Kurulka and Pashkovo areas, as well as near Bolshaya Kamyshevakha.
In the area of the city of Kharkiv, there is a fairly small grouping of Russian forces, which for weeks continued to repel the Ukrainian counter offensives. One of their tasks in the region is to divert enemy forces from the active operations in the Izyum region, as well as to protect the supply roads.
It is reported that the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has transferred 3,000 soldiers and more than 100 units of heavy weapons to unblock the 93rd brigade, which fell into the operational environment in the area of Izyum. The AFU do not abandon attempts to force the Seversky Donets and hit the flank of the Russian grouping in Izyum who are advancing on Barvenkovo and Slavyansk. The AFU are trying to break through near the village of Protopovka, but so far without success. Russian artillery is delivering massive strikes on Ukrainian positions.
The battles for the town of Liman have been going on for several days. Russian troops and units of the People’s Militias of the DPR and LPR are storming the city to further advance to Slavyansk.
In the area of Bakhmutka, Russian troops took control of the village of Svetlichnoye, fighting is going on in Nizhny.
In the area of Severodonetsk-Lisichansk, Russian forces have almost completely established control over Rubezhnoe and nearby areas. The AFU were repelled from the forests in the Kudryashevo area.
Fighting began for Voivodovka, located between Rubezhny and Severodonetsk. The head of the Chechen forces who were deployed in the area, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that the AFU were knocked out of the areas to the north and northeast of the village. Fighting continues in the streets. Control over Voivodovka will provide an opportunity to blockade the city of Severodonetsk from the north.
In turn, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the beginning of a counterattack in the Luhansk direction. However, at the moment, no success has been achieved. The main hotspots remain in the areas near Popasna, Kremennaya and Torskoe.
Russian troops continue to storm Popasnaya. The People’s Militia of the LPR controls half of the city.
In the Donetsk People’s Republic, on May 5, Russian forces took control of the village of Troitskoye, located 14 kilometers north of Yasinovataya. The People’s Militia of the DPR stated that the first separate mechanized battalion of the territorial defense of the DPR, with the support of special forces, moped up the resistance in the village. At the same time, the Ukrainian artillery continues to fire at the village from positions in Novoselovka and New York.
Positional battles continue on other fronts of Donbass and in the southern regions of Ukraine but no changes were reported on the front lines.
After the ceasefire regime established on April 30 and May 1 resulted in the evacuation of about a hundred of civilians, hostilities resumed on the territory of Azovstal in Mariupol. Ukrainian militants open fire in an attempt to find any weak points in the Russian positions around the plant. In their turn, Russian forces suppress the Ukrainian firing points with artillery, aviation as well as during the clashes in some areas in the facilities, in order to secure their positions and civilian areas nearby.
In order to suppress the firing points of Ukrainian militants, Russian naval artillery was involved, which inflicted a large-scale blow on the plant.
As soon as the fighting resumed, the Azov militants revealed that there were still civilians in the basements of Azovstal. Thus, clearly not all the hostages were allowed to leave the facilities.
The Russian news agency RIA Novosti cited an anonymous representative of the Russian military involved in the operation to liberate Azovstal saying that there could be more than 200 civilians, including women, children and the elderly held in the basements.
The source also revealed that the Azov militants offered to exchange the civilians for food and medicines.
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