Advance of the Defense Forces near Bakhmut, new aid from UK and France: highlights of the day

Advancement near Bakhmut

The spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Serhiy Cherevatyi, said that over the past two days, the Ukrainian Defense Forces have advanced on the flanks around Bakhmut to a distance of 350 meters to 2 kilometers in some sectors. Ukrainian soldiers are carrying out such actions as part of a defense operation that has been going on for many months and is aimed at depleting the enemy.

According to Cherevatyi, "the enemy is putting up a fierce resistance." Over the last day, 34 combat engagements took place on the Bakhmut axis, the enemy fired 479 times at Ukrainian positions. There were also four air raid alerts, the spokesman said.

Help from the United Kingdom

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the United Kingdom on the morning of May 15. This is his second visit to the country since the start of the full-scale war. He met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Zelenskyy was the first world leader to be received by the Prime Minister at his residence.

It also became known that the United Kingdom has decided to send Ukraine hundreds of air defense missiles and new long-range attack drones with a range of over 200 kilometers. This is in addition to the Storm Shadow missiles that were announced earlier. The country will also launch a training program for Ukrainian pilots in the summer to provide them with basic training in the use of Western aircraft.

Assistance from France

The French authorities have confirmed that in the coming weeks, their country will train and equip several battalions of the Ukrainian army with dozens of armored vehicles and light tanks, including AMX-10RCs.

Elections in Turkey

All 100% of ballots have been processed in Turkey. The country's Supreme Electoral Council has officially confirmed that a second round of presidential elections will be held on May 28, the first time in Turkish history.

In the first round, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won 49.51% of the vote, and his main opponent, Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, received 44.88% of the vote.

Explosion involving local "Minister of Internal Affairs" in Luhansk

In the temporarily occupied Luhansk, Igor Kornet, the "Minister of Internal Affairs" of the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk Oblast, was blown up. The collaborator was seriously injured and hospitalized. According to propagandists, the explosion occurred in a barbershop. As a result, seven people were injured, including at least three in serious condition.

Kornet had been working in the Ukrainian Interior Ministry since 1993, and was fired six years later. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Luhansk Oblast in 2014, he has sided with the occupiers.

At first, Kornet was the "Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs" and then the "Minister" of the occupied territory of the region. Since 2015, he has been wanted by the SBU on charges of actions aimed at a violent change of government, encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and the creation of a terrorist group.

New details of "leaked" Pentagon data

The Washington Post, citing leaked Pentagon classified documents, wrote that the owner of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, could have offered Ukraine to surrender the positions of Russian troops in late January if the Defense Forces agreed to retreat from Bakhmut.

According to the journalists, Prigozhin conveyed his proposal through his own contacts in the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, with whom he had been secretly in touch during the full-scale war.

Afterwards, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's intelligence commented on the WP story, saying that Ukraine and its intelligence services will discuss such things "when it is necessary and in the national interest of Ukraine."

Situation at the front

In addition to the Bakhmut axis, Russian troops continue to focus on the Lyman, Avdiyivka and Maryinka axes. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that 37 combat engagements took place in these four areas over the last day. Bakhmut and Maryinka remain at the epicenter of the fighting.

According to the General Staff, on May 14, the Defense Forces destroyed 580 Russian occupiers, three tanks, 11 armored combat vehicles, 21 artillery systems, 24 operational and tactical drones and other equipment. In total, since February 24, 2022, Russia has lost 199,460 of its soldiers in the war against Ukraine.

New attacks

On May 15, Russian troops continued to strike Ukraine, killing people and destroying infrastructure. In particular:

• the occupiers launched a missile attack on Avdiyivka, Donetsk Oblast, in the morning, killing four people;
• in Donetsk Oblast, a vehicle of the White Angel police unit, which is engaged in evacuating people and other tasks near the front line, came under Russian fire. As a result, five crew members were injured;
• Russians shelled Nikopol district of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast again. Three people were injured, including a 14-year-old girl.

Other news

• Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash and a number of top managers of his companies have been charged by the Security Service of Ukraine and the Economic Security Bureau. Law enforcers exposed a scheme whereby entities controlled by Firtash bought fuel from his own company, but in fact received 30% of the volume;
• Volodymyr Trush, head of the Ternopil Oblast Military Administration, said that the information that depleted uranium ammunition had exploded in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil was fake;
• The European Commission released its economic forecast for Ukraine for the first time. Despite last year's decline of almost 30%, the Ukrainian economy proved to be very resilient. The European Commission expects growth of 0.6% in 2023 and 4% in 2024;
• self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko was shown in public for the first time since May 9. He confirmed that four Russian military aircraft were shot down in Russia's Bryansk Oblast on May 13, although the Russian authorities only admitted to shooting down one helicopter.