Gerasimov’s Battlefield Report “Highly Inaccurate”; Ukraine Hits Azot Plant
Russian Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov made a series of false claims to the Western Grouping of Forces, claiming Russian troops are advancing west of Kupyansk toward Shevchenkove despite ISW’s assessment that Russian forces have infiltrated only about 14.2% of Kupyansk. the pattern “highly inaccurate” for the fifth consecutive month and warned the Russian command “is either unaware of or unwilling to admit the realities of the battlefield even to itself, and is therefore allowing its own falsehoods to influence Russian operational and strategic planning”.
Gerasimov also claimed Russian forces had seized all of Borova and Kutkivka and about 85% of Lyman — figures ISW puts at 6.5% on Kutkivka and 0.06% on Lyman. Russian milbloggers have publicly warned that Ukrainian counter-attacks and false reports of advances in other frontline areas are creating situations the Russian command cannot adequately respond to. Ukrainian forces struck the Azot chemical plant in Nevinnomyssk, Stavropol Krai — southern Russia’s largest chemical plant and its largest producer of nitrogen fertilisers and ammonia for explosives — some 540 kilometres from the frontline. Russia launched 294 drones at Ukraine overnight on 16-17 May; Ukrainian air defences downed 269. Russian strikes hit port, residential and critical infrastructure in Odesa Oblast, cutting power to 39 settlements and 22,662 subscribers.