As Russia fired missiles deep into areas of Ukraine such as Ternopil, Kyiv forces made “massive attempts” to break through Bakhmut’s defenses, Russian news agencies reported, Reuters reported. Two colonels were reportedly killed while repelling the attacks.

Interfax, citing Defense Ministry spokesman Ihor Konashenkov, reported that the attacks, which took place during the day, were repulsed. Reuters could not independently verify the information.

“To the north and south of Artemivsk (Russian name Bakhmut, absent), the enemy has been making massive attempts to break through the defenses of our troops for the last day. All attacks by units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were repelled. There was no breakthrough in the defense of the Russian troops,” he said, Interfax reports.

Separately, the ministry confirmed long-range strikes on Ternopil, indicating that they were directed “at units of the Armed Forces and ammunition depots.”

This statement somewhat contradicts local Ukrainian authorities, who said the rockets hit “populated areas” and residential buildings, including an educational institution.

According to Konashenkov, the airborne assault units, as the Russian press calls Wagner’s mercenaries, with the support of the airborne troops, continue the struggle to conquer the areas in the west of Bakhmut, TASS also writes.

Neither side was able to take complete control of Bakhmut, despite months of fierce warfare that inflicted heavy casualties on both sides.

Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its troops had retreated north of the city amid a wave of Ukrainian attacks, but Kiev played down suggestions that a large-scale, long-planned counteroffensive had officially begun.

During the repulse of the attacks, the commander of the 4th separate motorized rifle brigade, Colonel Vyacheslav Makarov, and the deputy commander of the army corps for military-political work, Colonel Yevhen Brovko, were killed, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported, reports RIA Novosti.

Despite Russia’s claims that Ukraine made “massive” unsuccessful attempts to break through the defenses in Bakhmut in the last 24 hours, Kyiv forces regained about 17 square kilometers of territory in three days, reports the US Institute for Study. war

There have been multiple reports this week of counterattacks near the city, which the Russians have been trying to capture for 11 months, with varying degrees of success.

The Institute for the Study of War estimated that nearly 17 square kilometers had been retaken, while Russian military bloggers said attacks from the west had secured Ukrainian access to the city via a vital thoroughfare and warned that Russian retreats could become more frequent.

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