(Moscow) The head of the Russian paramilitaries of Wagner judged that Bakhmout, epicenter of the fighting in eastern Ukraine, would not fall before “March or April”, attacking the “monstrous military bureaucracy” which, according to him, slows down the offensive in Ukraine.
His remarks come as Moscow seeks a victory days before the first anniversary of its February 24 invasion and Russia has stepped up its assault in the east in recent weeks.
“I think it’s March or April. To take Bakhmout, you have to cut off all supply routes, ”said Yevgeny Prigojine, founder of Wagner, in a video posted overnight from Wednesday to Thursday on Telegram.
“I think we would have taken Bakhmout if it weren’t for this monstrous military bureaucracy, and if we weren’t being put in the way every day,” Prigojine castigated in another video.
According to him, the fact that Wagner can no longer recruit prisoners in exchange for an amnesty constitutes a “bleed” for his organization: “At some point, the number of units will drop and consequently the volume of tasks that we wants to run” too.
The private paramilitary organization Wagner has been leading the offensive against Bakhmout since the summer at the cost of very heavy losses. It recruited large numbers of prisoners to go and fight in Ukraine.
Mr. Prigojine, who no longer hides being in conflict with the Russian military hierarchy, announced on February 9 that this recruitment had ceased.
Formerly discreet, he was for a long time an invisible ally of the Kremlin of which he executed some of the base works.
Bakhmout, a symbol
Fighting around Bakhmout has redoubled since the end of 2022, but Russian advances remain limited despite the capture of several localities in January and February.
Experts question the real strategic importance of this city of 70,000 inhabitants before the war, which has become a symbol for both sides.
For Kyiv it is a “fortress” while Moscow is aiming for victory after its military setbacks during the fall which led to the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists on the front.
In Chassiv Iar, a nearby town, the sound of artillery fire is constant, forcing many residents to flee.
Vassyl Slaboun, 62, only takes two backpacks to leave, aboard a white minibus: “My nerves are on edge! “. “I will come back when the Ukrainian army has won,” he assures us. “I was born here and my whole family is buried here.”
At the same time, Russia is continuing its campaign of bombing its neighbor’s infrastructure, once again launching missiles and drones on Ukraine overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.
“Unfortunately, there were impacts in the north and west, as well as in the Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovograd regions,” Ukrainian presidential administration chief Andriy Yermak said on Telegram.
At least one person, a 79-year-old woman, was killed.
The intensification of fighting in the east comes as Ukraine prepares to mark the first anniversary of the Russian offensive on February 24 and Moscow is suspected of preparing a new major assault.
Illustration of its difficulties on the front, the Kremlin has changed its commander of military operations several times in one year. Since January, General Valéri Guerassimov, Chief of the Defense Staff, has commanded the troops.
Belarus in retreat
Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to deliver an important speech on February 21.
For their part, the West is expected to deliver tanks, armored vehicles and long-range missiles to Ukraine in the coming weeks, as many weapons that risk further increasing the problems of the Russian army.
Kyiv receives Thursday for the first time since the beginning of the conflict the visit of the head of Israeli diplomacy Eli Cohen.
Until then, Israel had sought to remain neutral, refusing to deliver arms to the Ukrainians, but in early February Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he was considering military aid.
Russia’s only European ally, the President of Belarus, said on Thursday that his country would only join the Russian offensive if it were directly attacked, amid speculation on the subject for months.
“I am ready to fight with the Russians from the territory of Belarus only in one case: if even a soldier comes from there (from Ukraine) with a weapon to our territory to kill our people he said in a rare encounter with foreign media in Minsk.