1 Instute for the Study of War and AEI’s Crical Threats Project 2023
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 10, 2023
Karolina Hird, Riley Bailey, Layne Philipson, Nicole Wolkov, and
Frederick W. Kagan
May 10, 2023, 4pm ET
Click here to see ISW’s interactive map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This map is updated daily alongside the static maps present in this report.
Click here to access ISW’s archive of interactive time-lapse maps of the
Russian invasion of Ukraine. These maps complement the static control-of-
terrain map that ISW produces daily by showing a dynamic frontline. ISW
will update this time-lapse map archive monthly.
Ukrainian forces conducted successful limited counterattacks around
Bakhmut on May 9.
Geolocated footage published on May 9 and 10 indicates that Ukrainian forces likely
conducted successful limited counterattacks north of Khromove (immediately west of
Bakhmut) and northwest of Bila Hora (14km southwest of Bakhmut) and made marginal
advances in these areas.[1]Ukrainian sources claimed on May 9 that Ukrainian forces
destroyed the 6th and 8th companies of the 72nd Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 3rd
Army Corps near Bakhmut and advanced 2.6km along a 3km frontline in the area,
although ISW has not observed visual confirmation of these reported wider Ukrainian
advances.[2] A prominent Russian milblogger[3] claimed on May 10 that the Ukrainian
forces tried to advance further in the Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) 4th Motorized
Rifle Brigade’s zone of responsibility in the Bakhmut area following Ukrainian
counterattacks on May 9 but that formations of an unspecified Russian paramilitary
company (PMC) prevented a Ukrainian breakthrough.[4] The Russian Ministry of
Defense (MoD) claimed that Russian Airborne Forces (VDV) are constraining the actions
of Ukrainian forces on the flanks around Bakhmut.[5] ISW has previously assessed that
reports of Ukrainian counterattacks throughout Donetsk Oblast appear to be a part of an
ongoing pattern of localized and limited counterattacks.[6]
Pervasive issues with Russian combat capability, exacerbated by continued
attritional assaults in the Bakhmut area, are likely considerably
constraining the ability of Russian forces in this area to defend against
localized Ukrainian counterattacks. The 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade
itself is emblematic of many of the endemic force generation issues constantly faced by
