The head of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigojine, claimed on Saturday the complete capture by his men of the city of Bakhmout, epicenter of fighting in eastern Ukraine which has lasted since last summer.
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“On May 20, 2023, today, at noon, Bakhmout was taken in its entirety,” Mr. Prigozhin announced in a video broadcast by his press service on Telegram, where he stands alongside armed men in front of ruined buildings.
“The operation to take Bakhmout lasted 224 days (…) There was only Wagner here,” added Mr. Prigojine, who is in open conflict with the Russian military hierarchy.
The battle for Bakhmout, a devastated city whose strategic importance is disputed, is the longest and deadliest of the conflict. Both sides have suffered heavy losses there while most of the fighting has been concentrated there for months.
Ukraine claimed this week to have retaken more than twenty square kilometers from Russian forces to the north and south of the city, while acknowledging an advance by Wagner’s fighters within the city itself, where only a small pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the West.
The flanks where the Ukrainians say they have advanced near Bakhmout are held by regular troops of the Russian army and Yevgeny Prigojine has multiplied criticism of them, accusing them of fleeing their positions or even the general staff of not delivering enough ammunition to his men.
“We did not only fight with the Ukrainian army in Bakhmout, but also with the Russian bureaucracy which put sticks in the roads for us”, launched Mr. Prigojine on Saturday.
He once again strongly criticized Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valéri Guérassimov.
If confirmed, the capture of Bakhmout would allow Moscow to post a victory after several humiliating reverses.