In the Komar direction, Russian forces continued to advance and have captured most of the village of Vilne Pole.

Russian forces advanced in two main areas. In the north, they pushed west from their positions in the eastern part of Vilne Pole and captured the rest of the residential part of the village. Ukrainian forces likely still maintain a presence in the agricultural buildings on the western outskirts, however. They also advanced along the treeline to the south, capturing the last section of the Vilne Pole - Novosilka Road.

To the southwest, Russian forces advanced north along the western bank of the Vorona River and captured a treeline in the low-lying ground. In addition to this, they pushed west to a perpendicular treeline, entering the eastern part of it.

+ ~2.00km² in favour of Russia.

I'm seeing a lot of accounts make claims about Ukraine's control over Bahatyr. Here is my take on the control situation.

At least 13 Russian flags were raised across Bahatyr following the reports of Russian forces capturing the village. All of these flags have been geolocated to be in the village, many of which are on the northwestern outskirts confirming Russia's control over it.

Three Ukrainian flag raises/take downs of Russian flags have been observed. The first was raised over the southeastern part of the village, with the video being posted nearly 2 days ago. This could've either been recorded on May 14-15 or May 11. This is due to the weather conditions in the video - it was sunny. If it was recorded on May 11, then it would mean that it was prior to the main Ukrainian withdrawal to the northwestern part of the village. If it was recorded on May 14-15, it would've been an encircled group of Ukrainian soldiers as Russian flags went up across the village shortly afterwards. There were reports of "pockets of resistance" remaining in the village which were being cleared up around May 15, so that fits in with the timeline considering most Russian sources are often ahead of themselves when they report on "clearing" or "combing" operations.

The second was on the western outskirts of Bahatyr in a very small electrical substation. A Ukrainian FPV drone hit a Russian flag, 2 Ukrainian soldiers ran in and then put the flag on the ground. This is not evidence of control, or a counterattack. The substation is at most in the grey zone right now.

The third involved two Ukrainian soldiers standing on a Russian flag before moving into a house. has not been geolocated and could've been filmed anywhere near the frontline. Additionally, the weather shows that it was recorded on May 14-15, 3-4 days ago. Furthermore, this flag was not one of the 13 flags shown on the Russian VoinDV video (the original channel to post the 13 Russian flag raises). This video is also not evidence of Ukrainian control over part of the village.

So what status is Bahatyr in? The residential part of the village is almost certainly under Russian control. The outskirts and approaches are either under Russian control or in the grey zone.

But let's say it isn't under Russian control. That wouldn't really matter as it would be soon. The main point of this post is not about the tactical side of the war, but the informational side and how both sides can spread disinformation and misinformation.

Just because the side you support has said something, it doesn't always mean it will be true. Always question what you see, factcheck, cross-reference, dig deeper and confirm. Anyone can say anything on the internet, and publish images, posts and videos that twists the truth to their favour and in turn sway the public opinion, even if it is on small things like a village in eastern Ukraine. Don't take everything at face value. You'd think that these are pretty simple and self-explanatory things, but you'd be surprised how many stubborn and closed-minded people there are out there who will refuse to listen to anyone who even mildly disagrees with them on a certain topic, especially if it is something that they are heavily invested in mentally and don't take lightly.

There's been lots of substantial advances across the frontline in Ukraine over the past 10 days, and not just on one sector - but multiple.

The front is cracking once again, but whether it will continue like this throughout summer is yet to be seen.

Very good points from a very reliable channel about the validity of large sources in Ukraine and Russia. It goes back to my point on always questioning what you see. "Factcheck, cross-reference, dig deeper and confirm. Anyone can say anything on the internet, and publish images, posts and videos that twists the truth to their favour and in turn sway the public opinion, even if it is on small things like a village in eastern Ukraine. Don't take everything at face value."

If some people still aren't convinced about the fall of Bahatyr, here is a report from a Ukrainian channel with direct connections with soldiers on the ground:

"Unfortunately, the enemy repelled our counterattacks, which simply drowned in blood! The enemy was able to establish control over the village of Bahatyr and placed 6 rags in different parts of the village, also advanced further west of the village and occupied the farm buildings, stabilization measures are currently underway there! There is also a threat to Odradne, and not only from the east, but also from the north."

Deepstate update just dropped and.... no change to Bahatyr. In fact, according to them half of Andriivka and Kostyantynopil are still in the grey zone.

This is like that whole Klishchiivka situation all over again.

Although it's interesting to me how they are more willing to update other parts of the frontline, like western Zaporizhzhia Oblast today and the Lyman direction earlier. I suppose some fronts take priority in the sphere of informational warfare.

"47th brigade" and "Dumb orders" are two terms very well acquainted with each other.

The Ukrainian GUR reports that Russia is planning to launch a "Yars" RS-24 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) on the night of May 19 for training purposes from the area of Svobodny, Sverdlovsk Oblast.

The missile will apparently be launched by the 433rd regiment of the 42nd division of the 31st army of the strategic missile forces, with the GUR claiming that the purpose of the launch is to "demonstratively pressure and intimidate Ukraine, as well as the EU and NATO member states".

The RS-24 is a three-stage solid-fuel rocket with a range of over 10,000 Kilometres.

Sirens east of Gaza

IDF confirms the sirens. No reports of Rockets yet.

There are reports of large IDF movements in Gaza. These sirens may be from rockets fired by Palestinian factions at the IDF troops in the strip.

Reports of one interception of a rocket

1 Rocket fell in an open area. 2 launches in total.

Large scale movements of Israeli vehicles are reported in northern and southern Gaza. Apparently Operation Gideon's Chariots has gone into full force following the preparatory measures.

The Israeli Army Radio reports that 5 IDF brigades launched simultaneous attacks. Heavy Israeli airstrikes targeted the city of Beit Lahiya in Northern Gaza. Artillery shelling is now targeting the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza.

4 U.S. Airforce Boeing C-17 "Globemaster" military transport aircraft landed at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv a few hours ago.

Israeli forces have begun large-scale movements in southern Gaza, south of the city of Khan Younis. They are moving towards the "European" area of the town of Al-Fukhkhari, while tanks entered the town of Khuzaa.

The European area holds the European Hospital, where Hamas leader Muhammed Sinwar was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier.

⚡️🇮🇱🇵🇸🇶🇦 Israeli outlet "Israel Hayom" reports that progress has been made in the indirect negotiations between the Hamas and Israeli delegations in Doha, but that no breakthrough has been achieved yet.

"IDF forces are already operating on the ground, and we will not allow any procrastination," they said, citing an official.

@wfwitness

It turns out that one Tu-95MS is still present at Engels-2 Airbase in Saratov Oblast, despite reports of the large deployments to Belaya Airbase in Irkutsk Oblast. Probably a miscalculation either on my or the monitoring channel's part.

The aircraft is currently conducting training.