Russian forces take control over 95% of Artyomovsk — Prigozhin

Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin
©Konkord Company Press Service/TASS

Russian forces control about 95% of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) and the remaining 5% have no influence on the progress of the special military operation, Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin says.

"Almost 95% of the city territory has been captured in Artyomovsk to date. The remaining 5% do not play any role for the so-called development of progress and the march of the ‘Red Army’ further to the West. Two square kilometers do not influence the progress of the military operation at all," he said, cited by the Prigozhin’s press office in its Telegram channel.

Nobody communicated with him about the shortage of ammunition, Prigozhin said. "The personnel of Wagner PMC will be preserved for the next operations in interests of Russia," he noted.

The Wagner PMC founder also said he had no ambitions of leaving his mark as the person "that took Artyomovsk." "I have ambitions to be of service to our nation and state," he added.

Wagner to hand key Donbass city over to Chechens – Prigozhin

The Wagner Group private military company will withdraw from the key Donbass city of Artyomovsk (known in Ukraine as Bakhmut) on May 10, the group’s chief, Evgeny Prigozhin, has announced. The PMC’s positions will be taken over by the Chechen Special Forces Unit ‘Akhmat’, he said.

Prigozhin claimed to have been in contact with Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic, to perform the maneuver. The Wagner leader expressed confidence that the Chechen units will capture Artyomovsk completely, of which just a few blocks in the city's western part remain under the control of Ukrainian forces.

“I am already in contact with [Kadyrov’s] representatives in order to start transferring positions immediately, so that on May 10, at 00:00, exactly at the moment when, according to our calculations, we will completely exhaust our combat potential, our comrades will take our places and continue the assault on the city of Bakhmut,” Prigozhin said in a statement on Saturday.

Later in the day, Kadyrov released a short video address stating that he has already raised the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, notifying him of his willingness to replace the Wagner fighters in the city. The Akhmat fighters are already on standby and ready to be redeployed to Artyomovsk, he added.

“The soldiers are on high alert, we are only waiting for orders. Several units have already set off towards the special military operation zone,” Kadyrov stated.

Prigozhin announced the looming withdrawal of his forces from the city earlier this week, citing heavy losses and a shortage of artillery munitions. The group will be redeployed from the frontlines to rear camps to “lick their wounds,” he said.

Artyomovsk has seen intense fighting in recent months, with the raging battle commonly referred to as the “Bakhmut meat grinder.” The city is a key road and rail junction in Donbass, with both sides reportedly suffering significant casualties during the struggle for control over it. Kiev has continuously poured reserves into the city, which remains partially surrounded by Wagner and other Russian troops.

Zaporozhye NPP Head Says Staff Ensuring Nuclear Safety, No Need to Evacuate Employees

The staff of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP) is doing everything necessary to ensure nuclear safety, with the operation of all blocks suspended, and there is no need to evacuate employees now, Yuri Chernichuk, the plant's chief, said on Saturday.

"The staff of the Zaporozhye NPP is doing everything necessary to ensure nuclear safety. There are no reasons for concern. All blocks are shut down. The equipment is maintained in accordance with all necessary regulations under strict control of radiation safety standards," Chernichuk said on Telegram.

Moreover, there is currently no need to evacuate the NPP staff and Enerhodar residents, the plant's head added.

©Sputnik / Konstantin Mikhalchevsky

Located on the left bank of the Dnipro River, the Zaporozhye NPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe by number of units and energy output. It went under the control of Russian forces in early March 2022 and has since been repeatedly shelled, raising international concerns over a possible nuclear accident. On October 5, the Zaporozhye NPP was placed under the control of Russian institutions in line with instructions by President Vladimir Putin.

Special operation, May 6th. Main:

▪️The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that three pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces were returned from Ukrainian captivity;

▪️Head of Chechnya Kadyrov said that "Akhmat" is ready to advance to Artyomovsk, several units have already set off in the direction of conducting a military defense;

▪️The car of Zakhar Prilepin was blown up on a highway in the Nizhny Novgorod region, the driver died, Prilepin himself was injured, Alexander Permyakov, who was detained on suspicion of involvement in the assassination attempt, admitted that he acted on instructions from the Ukrainian special services;

▪️In the Kupyansky, Krasnolimansky, Donetsk, Kherson, South-Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, Kyiv lost more than 400 military and mercenaries in a day, the Russian Defense Ministry said;

▪️Two missiles of the Ukrainian OTRK "Grom-2" were shot down over the Crimea, there are no casualties or destruction, adviser to the head of the republic Kryuchkov said.

▪️Three Russian Aerospace Forces pilots were returned to Russia as a result of a prisoner swap with Ukraine, the Russian MoD says

Russian MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️In the Kupyansk direction, Russian forces destroyed up to 50 Ukrainian troops, two armored fighting vehicles, and an Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer;

▪️In the Krasny Liman direction, Russian forces neutralized up to 60 Ukrainian personnel, one armored fighting vehicle, two D-30 howitzers, and one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer;

▪️In the Donetsk direction, Ukrainian losses amounted to over 185 Ukrainian troops, one tank, four armored fighting vehicles, and two D-30 and D-20 howitzers;

▪️In the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, Russian forces destroyed over 90 Ukrainian troops, one tank, two armored fighting vehicles, a D-30 howitzer, as well as one ammunition depot;

▪️In the Kherson direction, Russian troops neutralized up to 35 Ukrainian servicemen, one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, as well as one US-made AN/TPQ-50 counter mortar radar;

▪️Air defenses shot down one Mi-8 helicopter, three HIMARS projectiles, one HARM anti-radar missile, and 32 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the LPR, DPR, and Kharkov region.

Jordan Neely killing by Daniel Penny - lack of arrest highlights racial disparities in charging

Daniel Penny Identified As the Man Who Choked Jordan Neely to Death: Live Updates

Photo: Juan Vazquez

Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old Marine Corps veteran from Queens, has been publicly identified as the man who killed Jordan Neely after placing him in a lethal choke hold on Monday. His identity had been a mystery since then with several news outlets speaking to him but not publishing his name and authorities refusing to reveal who he was. After online sleuths published his information on Thursday night, the press followed.

Daniel Penny’s attorney, Thomas Kenniff, released a statement on Friday night in which he claimed Penny had acted “to protect” himself and other passengers after Neely “began aggressively threatening” them. Kenniff insisted Penny “never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death.” The statement also pointed to Neely’s “documented history of violent and erratic behavior” and decried the mental-health crisis in the city.

What happened?

On Monday afternoon, Penny was seen choking Neely, 30, aboard an F train in an encounter captured on video. During the nearly four-minute video, Penny is seen wrapped around Neely’s back on the ground with both arms tight across his neck. Neely struggles as another unidentified man holds his arms by the wrist. The conductor and others can be heard calling for police, and after about two minutes, a bystander gets inside the train car and warns Penny: “If you suffocate him, that’s it. You don’t want to catch a murder charge.” Shortly after, Penny releases the choke hold and the men roll Neely, who appears to be unconscious, onto his side. Neely was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Officers questioned Penny and released him. Later, the medical examiner’s office determined that Neely died from compression of his neck, ruling his death to be a homicide.

Who is Penny?

Penny graduated from West Islip High School in 2016, in the bedroom community on Long Island’s South Shore, about a 90-minute drive from Manhattan. In 2017, he joined the Marines. His lawyer said Penny is currently a college student. The Washington Post notes that according to his service records, Penny served as a rifleman until 2021, reached the rank of sergeant, and was deployed with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Mediterranean.

For a time, Penny lived at his grandfather’s house in West Islip, according to Willy Horan, who purchased the waterfront home from Penny’s grandfather in 2019. Horan took a break from his yard work Friday morning to lament both Neely’s death and Penny’s circumstances. “It’s unfortunate it had to end with a 30-year-old dying. But the kid was threatened, he’s a marine, what was he supposed to do?” Horan wondered. “Tell Adams, ‘Now that he’s got the rats under control, it’s time to address mental illness.’”

In a bio on the service-industry-job site Harri, Penny wrote that his experience as a squad leader on two deployments led him to realize he was “passionate” about “helping, communicating, and connecting to different people from all over the world.”

Will he be charged?

Prosecutors and detectives are said to be considering potential charges for the veteran with the Manhattan DA’s office “weighing if the case should go to a grand jury to determine if charges should be brought,” according to the Daily News. Gothamist reports that the investigation is being led by Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass, who it notes “is one of the office’s go-to lawyers on high-profile, violent crimes.”

Catherine Christian, an attorney who spent 30 years in the Manhattan DA’s office, told Gothamist that the video of the choke hold would not be enough for prosecutors to charge Penny with murder — as state law demands that prosecutors prove there was an intention to kill. If charges are filed, Christian said that it’s more likely to be second-degree manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide, which would require prosecutors to show that Penny was “not reasonably acting in self-defense,” per Gothamist.

With only one witness coming forward publicly so far, it’s essential to any potential case that more firsthand accounts are found. “I would hope that the police officers got the name and contact information of everyone in that subway car, because what people who weren’t in the car are saying is irrelevant,” Christian told Gothamist. “So I would want to know: What did they see? What did they hear?” On Thursday, the NYPD encouraged witnesses who have not come forward to share any information they may have about the attack.

As New York City authorities continue to investigate the killing of an unhoused Black man who was put into a chokehold by a white transit passenger, anger and frustration mounted over the lack of an arrest in the case, reinforcing longstanding racial disparities over who gets charged for crimes in the city and nationally.

“His killing is a reflection of deep racial bias in our society,” Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, told the Guardian on Friday. “And the way he was treated after death is a reflection of other biases with regard to people who suffer mental illness.

“This is about the devastating intersection of bias and failed policy. This is not just about New York City. New York City shapes society or reflects it.”

On 1 May, Jordan Neely, 30, reportedly yelled at passengers on a F train heading into Manhattan, pleading that he was hungry, homeless and thirsty when, in an apparent escalation, subway riders restrained him. Video footage showed a 24-year-old white former marine, identified as Daniel Penny, of Long Island, holding Neely in a chokehold for several minutes while another rider held the supine man’s arms.

Friends and family have described Neely as a sweet, loving and talented Michael Jackson impersonator who dealt with mental health challenges following his mother’s murder when he was a teenager.

Advocates argued that the circumstances surrounding Neely’s life and death, which the city’s medical examiner’s office ruled a homicide, reflected longstanding failures to provide social services to impoverished New Yorkers.

Criminal justice experts also told that the lack of an arrest in this case also illuminated broader disparities embedded in the US criminal justice system’s treatment of certain people, whether Black, impoverished or struggling with a disability.

“It also reflects the profound failed policies our city has pursued for decades,” Lieberman said. “Instead of providing mental health care, instead of providing housing, we provide police sweeping the streets.”

Activists also decried that Neely’s killer had not been immediately charged. Johnny Grima, 38, an activist with Tompkins Mutual Aid, said that Neely’s life was unvalued by law enforcement because he was an unhoused Black man with mental health issues.

“Jordan Neely to them is a piece of garbage. And it’s fucking sad ’cause he isn’t a piece of garbage,” said Grima, adding that police were also hesitant to charge Penny because he was a white marine.

“Had it been a white woman that was choked for 15 minutes, [the assailant] probably would’ve been arrested on sight,” Grima added.

Black Americans are disproportionately arrested, convicted and detained pre-trial compared with white Americans. A United Nations report on US criminal justice system disparities showed that Black Americans are also unevenly denied bail and then detained when they are unable to afford it. In this case, no charges had been filed as of late Friday, days after police questioned the white rider.

Lieberman argued that Neely’s killing “would almost certainly have never happened if he were not Black”, adding that she had “little doubt” police would have charged Penny if he were Black.

She and her colleague, Beth Haroules, a staff attorney at NYCLU and director of disability justice litigation, condemned the public release of Neely’s criminal record, which included dozens of charges ranging from alleged assault to lower-level offenses such as jumping subway turnstiles and carrying an open alcohol container.

Haroules called the dissemination of Neely’s record before the filing of charges against the white rider or any others involved in Neely’s death a “perversion of the investigative process”, adding that it “polluted” the ongoing investigation before it has concluded and would make it more difficult for jurors.

“The release of all the touches Neely has had with the criminal justice system is so stark and damning,” Haroules said. “No alternatives were made available to him or supported housing assistance with his mental health situation.”

When she heard about the case, she found it “shocking” that the rider took matters into his own hands. But she also found it “not surprising” given the heightened rhetoric from the New York City mayor, Eric Adams, and others around increasing police presence in subway stations to curtail crime as well as endorsing involuntarily hospitalizing people experiencing homelessness with mental illness, even as the city cuts services for those facing such challenges.

The white rider’s act of putting Neely in a chokehold, at a time when the New York police force is banned from using chokeholds, spoke to an environment in which “people felt empowered to take the law into their own hands” even as Neely did not appear to “create a risk of danger that was violent”, Haroules said.

She added: “It is very dangerous for our elected officials to continuously drill into people’s heads that men of color, unhoused, mentally ill on the subway are there and if you don’t get them down first, they will take you out.” New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, called the attack “deeply disturbing”, telling Spectrum News NY1 that there are “consequences for behavior”.

Citing a source, ABC7 reported that a grand jury could convene next week to determine whether charges are appropriate.

Neely reportedly struggled after his mother’s death: When Neely was a teenager, his mother, Cynthia, was choked to death by an abusive boyfriend. He suffered a similar fate on Monday.

Haroules said that Neely’s death should be a “wake-up moment” for the city to decide how both officials and police want to treat unhoused people and those suffering from mental illness. She noted that she saw the “same playbook” arising as when police “engage in unlawful use of force” against a person, particularly those having a mental health crisis.

“We see it all the time,” she said. “The outcome is that the person in mental health crisis is killed or suffers pretty grievous harm.”

She added: “I don’t know what kind of justice can be had for Neely and his family.”

Multiple people killed in shooting at mall in Texas

Police respond to a shooting in the Dallas area's Allen Premium Outlets, which authorities said has left multiple people injured in Allen, Texas, U.S. May 6, 2023 in a still image from video. ABC Affiliate WFAA via REUTERS

Several people, including children were injured on Saturday in a shooting outside of a busy suburban Dallas mall and a suspect was dead, local media reported.

There was no word on the number of people injured or their condition at the Allen Premium Outlets mall where the shooting took place about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Dallas.

Multiple people were wounded and the shooter was dead at the scene, local ABC affiliate WFAA TV reported, citing the Collin County Sheriff.

"He pretty much was walking down the sidewalk just ... shooting his gun outside," an eyewitness told the station. "He was just shooting his gun everywhere for the most part."

Video footage from local media showed police officers hurrying shoppers out of the mall, with squad cars and emergency vehicles parked near entryways.

WARNING: Sensitive content—Fox News' CB Cotton shares the latest on reports of 'multiple gunshots' at a mall in Allen, Texas, on 'Fox Report.'

Blood could be seen on sidewalks outside the mall and white sheets covering what appeared to be bodies.

Allen Police Department and Collin County officials were not immediately available to comment.

"Law enforcement is on the scene at Allen Premium Outlets. An active investigation is underway. Please avoid the area until further update," the Allen Police Department said in a Twitter post.

.@ATFDallas ATF personnel are responding to the active shooter incident at Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, TX. Allen Police Department is the point of contact and will release more information as it becomes available. pic.twitter.com/ntQXLIK4bs

— ATF Dallas (@ATFDallas) May 6, 2023

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, calling the shooting an "unspeakable tragedy", said in a written statement that the state was prepared to offer any assistance local authorities in Allen may need.

Allen, Texas, is a community of about 100,000 people.

Mass shootings have become commonplace in the United States, with at least 198 so far in 2023, the most at this point in the year since at least 2016, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The nonprofit group defines a mass shooting as any in which four or more people are wounded or killed, not including the shooter.

Police chief Brian Harvey said at a Saturday evening presser that a police officer was on an unrelated call nearby when gunshots erupted at Allen Premium Outlets at 3:36 p.m.

The officer "engaged the suspect and neutralized the threat," according to police. A law enforcement source told Fox News that the suspected shooter is dead.

Harvey said that nine people were transported to local hospitals, but it is unknown how many were killed. Local outlet WFAA-TV reported that the victims included children, though Fox News has not independently confirmed that.

The ATF Dallas Field Division announced that it was responding to an active shooting situation on Twitter earlier on Saturday. FBI officials were also on scene.

A mother who was at the mall with her daughter said she heard popping noises and saw sparks flying.

"We were outside the Converse store and we just heard all this popping," Elaine Penicaro explained to FOX 4. "We kind of all just stopped, and then a second later, just 'Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,' and there were sparks flying like it was right in front of us."

US, Ukraine to blame for terror attack against Prilepin — Russian MFA

©Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

Kiev and its Western patrons, in the first place, the US are primarily responsible for the terrorist attack against writer Zakhar Prilepin, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"Responsibility for this and other terrorist acts lies not only with the Ukrainian authorities, but with their Western patrons, in the first place, the United States, who since the coup d'etat of February 2014 have painstakingly nurtured the anti-Russian neo-Nazi project in Ukraine," the statement reads.

"The lack of Washington’s condemnation of another in a string of terrorist attacks against a Russian journalist and public figure is an act of self-exposure by the US authorities. The silence of international organizations concerned is impermissible."

Car of Russian Author Zakhar Prilepin Blown Up in Nizhny Novgorod Region

"The terrorist attack against Prilepin is yet another manifestation of the systemic approach to liquidating ideological opponents, which has been actively cultivated in Ukraine by Washington since 2014 to have becoming a basic reflex of the Kiev regime," the Foreign Ministry said.

The Foreign Ministry offered condolences to the near and dear ones of the man who died in the attack and wished Prilepin a prompt recovery.

Details of terrorist attack

On Saturday morning, an explosive device went off in an Audi Q7 carrying Zakhar Prilepin. The incident occurred in the village of Pionersky, the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

The writer was wounded and his driver killed. There were no other victims, the police said.

A criminal case was launched under article 205 of the Criminal Code (an act of terrorism). Law enforcement officials told TASS that a group of saboteurs might have been behind the attack.

The investigators are probing into the complicity of a detainee, identified as Alexander Permyakov, in the assassination attempt. The suspect has testified he has been acting on instructions from Ukrainian secret services.

Russia’s response to drone attack on Kremlin to be proportional — diplomat

Russia is working on a proportionate response to Ukraine’s drone attack on the Kremlin, Konstantin Gavrilov, head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, said on Friday.

"Our response will follow. The country’s leadership is thinking it over. I completely agree with speaker of the State Duma (lower parliament house) Vyacheslav Volodin who says that the response should be well-weight so that those who did it - both Kiev and its sponsors - had no intention to repeat such actions," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

"The response should be proportionate but felt by all," he added.

He slammed calls for the use of nuclear weapons as inappropriate. "We have a military doctrine about when nuclear weapons can be used, and empty calls for the use of nuclear weapons are premature and inappropriate," he stressed.

On May 3, Kiev tried to use two drones to carry out a night-time strike on the Kremlin residence of the Russian president. The Russian military and special services promptly disabled the drones that were targeting the Kremlin. The press service of the head of state said that Vladimir Putin was not harmed, his schedule was not changed, and his work continued as usual.

The Kremlin slammed the attack as a pre-planned act of terrorism and an attempt on the life of the head of state. Moscow reserved the right to retaliate in a suitable way and at an appropriate moment.

LIVE UPDATES - At Least 185 Ukrainian Servicemen, Mercenaries Killed in Donetsk Area

©Valentin Sprinchak/TASS

Over the past day, Russian troops have destroyed at least 185 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as foreign mercenaries, in the Donetsk area, the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Saturday.

"During the day, more than 185 Ukrainian servicemen and mercenaries, 1 tank, 4 armored combat vehicles, 4 vehicles, 2 D-20 howitzers and 1 D-30 howitzer were destroyed in this area," Konashenkov said.

"Over the past day operational-tactical and army aviation, artillery of groups of troops of the Russian armed forces hit 85 artillery units of the Ukrainian armed forces in firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 104 districts," the general added.

According to him, a US-made AN/TPQ-48 counter-battery radar was also destroyed in the Verkhnekamenka region in the People’s Republic of Lugansk.

Russian air defense shot down 32 Ukrainian drones in a day

"The air defense systems intercepted three HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and one HARM anti-radar missile. During the day, 32 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed in the areas of the settlements of Novoandreevka, Svatovo, Pshenichnoye of the People's Republic of Lugansk, Gorlovka, Volnovakha of the People's Republic of Donetsk, Vasylivka, Chubarevka and Orekhov in the Zaporozhye region," Konashenkov claimed.

Two Ukrainian Ballistic Missiles Shot Down Over Crimea - Crimean Authorities

Russia's air defense systems on Saturday shot down two ballistic missiles launched by Ukraine's Grom-2 operational-tactical missile system (OTRK) over Crimea, Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to Head of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov, said on Saturday.

"Updated information. Two Grom-2 OTRK ballistic missiles were shot down over Crimea," Kryuchkov said on Telegram.

Earlier in the day, Aksyonov said that one missile of that kind had been shot down over Crimea by the Russian air defense systems.

"A ballistic missile launched by Ukraine's Hrim-2 OTRK was shot down over the Republic of Crimea by the air defense," Aksyonov said on Telegram.

The incident did not cause any damage or victims, he added.

Ukrainian forces lose up to 90 servicemen in South Donetsk, Zaporozhye areas

In the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye areas, air strikes and artillery fire from the Vostok group of troops defeated units of the Ukrainian armed forces in the areas of the settlements of Gulyaipole, Zaporozhye region, and Ugledar, Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman reported.

"During the day, up to 90 Ukrainian servicemen, 2 armored combat vehicles, 4 cars, as well as a D-30 howitzer were destroyed in these areas. An ammunition depot of the 35th marine battalion of the Ukrainian armed forces was destroyed near the village of Velyka Novoselka," he said.

He added that over the past day, the Russian military destroyed up to 35 Ukrainian soldiers in the Kherson direction, as well as enemy equipment.

"In the Kherson direction, up to 35 Ukrainian servicemen, 2 vehicles and a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer were destroyed as a result of fire damage per day," he specified.

Up to 60 Ukrainian soldiers wiped out in Krasnolimansk area

According to Konashenkov, in the Krasnolimansky direction, operational-tactical and army aviation, artillery fire of the Center group of forces defeated the units of the Ukrainian army in the areas of the settlements of Nevskoye and Chervonaya Dibrova of the People's Republic of Lugansk.

"Up to 60 Ukrainian servicemen, an armored combat vehicle, 3 pickup trucks, a Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mount and 2 D-30 howitzers were destroyed," the general noted.

Meanwhile, the losses of the Ukrainian forces in the Kupyansk area amounted to 50 people, 2 armored vehicles and an Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer, he added.

"In the Kupyansk direction, air strikes and artillery fire from the Western Group of Forces hit enemy units in the areas of the settlements of Kislovka and Berestovoye in the Kharkov region. Up to 50 Ukrainian servicemen, two armored combat vehicles, three cars, and an Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer were destroyed in this direction in a day," the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman pointed out.

Russian forces destroy 9,000 Ukrainian tanks since military operation's start

"In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, the following weapons have been destroyed: 418 aircraft, 230 helicopters, 3,995 unmanned aerial vehicles, 421 anti-aircraft missile systems, 9,002 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,096 combat vehicles of multiple launch rocket systems, 4,748 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 10,002 units of special military vehicles," Konashenkov concluded.

Russia says its forces eliminated Ukrainian recon group is southern Donetsk Region

Russian forces took out a Ukrainian reconnaissance group made up of four servicemen in the south of the Donetsk Region, Alexander Gordeyev, a spokesman for the battlegroup East, has told TASS.

"Forward units of the battlegroup East detected an enemy reconnaissance group moving southward of the Novomikhailovka settlement. The group was eliminated with artillery support, and four militants have been destroyed," he said.

Gordeyev also said that a self-propelled Tulpan mortar destroyed a Ukrainian military location in Velikaya Novosyolka. Seven militants were taken out. In Ugledar, artillery fire destroyed an enemy armored vehicle with five militants, and anti-armor rocket destroyed an enemy tank, the spokesman said.

Akhmat commandos wait for orders to push towards Artyomovsk – Kadyrov

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has said that the Akhmat commando force is ready to move into Artemovsk (Ukrainian name Bakhmut).

"Akhmat [commando] units are ready to move to Artemovsk (Bakhmut). I have already signed the corresponding message to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief saying the Akhmat units are ready to take control of the city and to clear it from NATO and Ukrainian satanists. The fighters are in combat readiness. We are only waiting for the orders. Several units are already on the way to the zone of the special military operation," Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel on Saturday.

Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov
©Yelena Afonina/TASS

The Chechen leader is certain that Artyomovsk will soon be liberated.

"In the near future we will liberate the city, despite all sorts of fake news about some terrible counterattack by the Ukrainian army. We have already begun to develop our own strategy for this area together with the Russian Defense Ministry and with due regard for the tactics being used by the enemy and the resources available to us. Believe me, the tactic will yield positive results," Kadyrov added.