Hello to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.
But Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut are hanging on by a thread.
Our newsletter today focuses on a former U.S. servicemember now fighting for Ukraine, recalling the sacrifices, optimism, and stress of his multiple deployment there.
Here’s the latest information on the situation:
Ukrainian forces have partially encircled Bakhmut, said Hanna Malyar, an official with Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense. ”[It] gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy," she wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Zelenskyy denied later on Sunday that Bakhmut had fallen: “Bakhmut is not occupied by the Russian Federation as of today.”
The city is not a particularly important strategic location.
It is known for its salt mines and gypsum, according to
Chris Miller, a former Peace Corps volunteer who had been stationed there and now writes for the Financial Times.
Today's special edition of The Counteroffensive is focused on Daniel Montano, a pseudonym for a former US military servicemember currently fighting for Ukrainian forces.
He took this photo in Donbas on May 11, 2023, just a week and a half ago.
Sitting in the relatively-safer city of Kyiv, the former U.S. servicemember reflected that despite the danger of the war-torn city, he often felt more comfortable there
“I felt more at peace — or less stressed out — when I was in Bakhmut, then I feel when I'm in Poland or Kyiv"
When Montano was in Bakhmut, he was struck by the high spirits of the Ukrainian and foreign fighters who were stationed there.
“Everyone who was in Bakhmut wanted to be there; they wanted to fight and hold the city,” he said on Sunday. “But everyone had a smile on their face"
Montano described a hellish landscape in Bakhmut: roads and fields littered by craters, abandoned vehicles and unexploded ordnance.
"There isn't a building that wasn't on fire or didn't have craters in it,” he recalled.
Hear the booms here:
He remembered that his departure from Bakhmut about ten days ago was the most dangerous point in his rotation.
As an armored vehicle arrived to exfiltrate him, an artillery shell landed nearby.
At another point, an anti-tank missile came streaking by, narrowly missing them
“There were several times... in the [Armored Personnel Carrier] I thought, ‘this is it... that this is how I'm going to die,”' he said. “We would go over a bump or a tree stump and I would think, 'that is it. We're all dead.'
So naturally, we were all laughing and joking.”
He grins at the memory.
"We made it,” he said. “Obviously.”
Today’s Dog of War has an unknown name.
He or she was in Bakhmut when Montano was fighting there: “It seemed pretty stressed out,” Montano said, adding that he fed the dog, but had to move on.
Stay safe out there.
Tim Mak
Brandon
iPJR