Russia strives to capture Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Marinka to flaunt victory for May 9 celebrations - Colonel Kostenko

He shared the information on Espreso TV.

"The enemy is attacking Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka. These are the three cities they have chosen and would like to show their victory by May 9. They need to show the Russians that they have not put so much of their forces and resources in vain. The enemy also wants to take these positions to further develop the offensive on the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. These cities are important to Putin, so they are now throwing all their resources and reserves," noted Kostenko.

According to the SBU colonel, Prigozhin, Shoigu and Gerasimov are competing with each other to be the first to bring Putin victory by May 9 in order to curry favor with Russia.

"Russians want to claim at least some victory for themselves by May 9, but they have been going for this victory for a long time. They had different deadlines, and now the enemy is preparing some kind of victory parade," Kostenko added.

• On Wednesday, April 26, Ukrainian border guards and mortar operators managed to eliminate a group of Russian terrorists in a suburban area of Bakhmut.

• Competition and disagreements between Russian private military companies are growing in the battle for Bakhmut.