09 May: Ukrainians MAKE A SUCCESSFUL ASSAULT. RUSSIAN DEFENSE PENETRATED | War in Ukraine Explained

🔴 Support via Online Store: 🟠 Support via Patreon: 🔵 Support via YouTube Sponsorship: 🔵 Support via Thanks button donation under the video (next to “like“ and “share“) 🟡 Support via 1-time donation: ⚠️ Watch RFU in 18 languages: @RFU/channels I am Ukrainian. My country has been invaded by Russia. In this video I will tell you what happened on the four hundred and fortieth day of the war. Day 440: May 09 Today the biggest news once again comes from the Bakhmut direction. If yesterday Ukrainians cleared up to 1 km of trenches on the northern Bakhmut’s flank, then today Ukrainians liberated 3 square kilometers on the southern Bakhmut’s flank. The day started with Prigozhin’s announcement that Ukrainians launched a powerful counterattack south of the Ivanivske highway and breached Russian defense and penetrated it by half a kilometer already by 10 am. He said that he received numerous messages from his soldiers saying that the Russian 72nd Brigade abandoned their positions and ran away the moment they saw Ukrainians tanks and armored fighting vehicles. He also said that the Russian Ministry of defense deceived him and, after the first day cut off supplies once again. Prigozhin raised the alarm and said that now the Wagner Group is not only with no ammunition but also with bare flanks, which Ukrainians will definitely try to capitalize on to launch the counteroffensive. Closer to the evening, the Ukrainian side confirmed that almost everything Prigozhin said is true and showed combat footage, where Russian soldiers are indeed abandoning their positions and running Day 440 - 09 May - up1 - 1. textaway before Ukrainian assault units even reached their positions. It looks like the emotional buildup of anxious anticipation of the Ukrainian counteroffensive broke the Russian spirit, and they thought that staying on the zero line is sure death. Nonetheless, Ukrainian fighters also reported that at least 20% of troops belong not regular army but to the Wagner Group and that they abandoned their positions and ran together. The assault was conducted by the fighters from the 3rd Assault Brigade. As you might still remember, these were the fighters that broke the momentum of the Russian advancement in the Khromove region and cleared a lot of trenches. Soon they were relocated to an unspecified area, which turned out to be the southern flank. Ukrainians assaulted Russian trenches with tanks and armored vehicles and eliminated those who did not flee, which amounted to 64 troops when the report came out and is likely higher now as the operation continues. As a result, Ukrainians completely eliminated the second Russian bridgehead on the western side of the canal. Previously, Russian also had another bridgehead near the forest, which Ukrainians eliminated around a month ago. Prigozhin was furious at the 72nd Brigade. He said that his army lost 500 men to establish a powerful bridgehead – the positions were ready, and all the 72nd Brigade needed to do was to use the trenches and hold the defense, but in one day, they lost half of it. Because of the collapsing front line, Gazprom’s Private Military Company refused to go to these positions as they did not want to deal with the falling apart front. The problems on the flanks exacerbated the difficulties that Wagner forces are facing in the city itself. Today at night, Ukrainians soldiers reported that they noticed that Russians started moving into the grey zone, which made Ukrainians expect a huge storming operation during the night. However, it did not happen because of the extensive HIMARS raid across the whole Bakhmut direction. It was reported that Ukrainians destroyed multiple ammunition depots, forces, and equipment concentrations, rapidly creating shortages. These shortages likely forced the Wagner Group to reconsider its plans and go on the defensive, especially given the high level of uncertainty and the necessity to face the imminent large-scale mechanized assault or the counteroffensive operation. If you are against the invasion of Ukraine and want to support the work that I am doing, consider making a purchase in the online store UA Supporter. Here you can find a lot of products with Ukrainian symbols, to not only show your support for this channel, but also for Ukraine. The link to the online store is in the description, thank you for watching and I will see you in the next report.