Military attacks took place again in many parts of Ukraine over the weekend. According to Ukrainian information, the cities of Kryvyi Rih and Cherson were among the targets of rocket and artillery fire. A drone was shot down over the capital Kiev, and artillery fire was also fired at Nikopol, which lies on the Dnieper opposite the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
The Russian occupiers in the area have ordered civilians to be brought to safety because of a possible imminent Ukrainian attack. Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), warned in a statement on Saturday from the dangers of battles near the nuclear power plant. But everything will be done to ensure nuclear safety and the safety of the power plant. Experts from the IAEA are currently still on the site of the nuclear power plant. According to the statement, they report regular artillery fire in the area.
The Wagner mercenaries allegedly want to withdraw from Bachmut
The announcement by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenaries, on May 10 that he intends to withdraw from the city of Bakhmut, which has been heavily fought over for months, also attracted continued attention. Ramzan Kadyrov and his Chechen fighters were to take over the positions. Previously, Prigozhin had written about handing over the places he controlled to the Russian Ministry of Defense in the event of a retreat. Prigozhin cited a lack of ammunition and little support from the Russian army as the reason for the retreat. The Ukrainian side objected, saying there was constant Russian artillery shelling. Kadyrov explained himself in his Telegram channel ready to take over the positions of Prigozhin’s fighters with his special unit “Achmat” and finally to take Artjomowsk (meaning Bakhmut). This is a matter of a few hours. Accordingly, he has already sent a request to President Vladimir Putin to regroup his Chechen units.
On Sunday, Prigozhin seemed to backtrack from his announcement: he announced on his Telegram channel that he had been assured of sufficient equipment to continue the fight.
Power struggles within the Russian leadership are suspected to be behind such public maneuvers. The upcoming May 9 may also play a role: On “Victory Day” the defeat of Nazi Germany is traditionally celebrated in Russia. Perhaps a military victory of whatever kind in the war in Ukraine should also be announced this year. At the moment, however, it does not look as if the Russian troops will be able to conquer the symbolically but not strategically important Bakhmut by then. Prigozhin may have wanted to divert attention from this, because the Wagner mercenaries in Bakhmut fight a large part of the fighting for the Russian side.
Zakhar Prilepin survived the explosion
Aside from the military fighting in Ukraine, there was another attack in Russia in the conflict over the weekend. Russian author Zakhar Prilepin was injured and his driver killed in a car bomb explosion in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Years ago, the nationalist writer Prilepin fought alongside the pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass and led a unit there. He is considered a vehement supporter of the war and had spoken out in favor of the incorporation of Ukraine. According to Russian media reports, doctors have now pulled Prilepin out of an artificial coma. His condition is stable.
The Russian government blamed Ukraine, but also the West, especially the United States, for the attack. According to Russian sources, a man was arrested who allegedly acted on instructions from Ukraine.
The attack on the writer is the third in Russia against a war supporter since February last year. Darya Dugina, daughter of the ideologue Alexander Dugin, was killed by a car bomb near Moscow last summer. In April, Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky died in a bomb explosion at a cafe in Saint Petersburg.