Wagner boss Prigoshin speaks of a “difficult situation” in Bakhmut and has invited the Russian Defense Minister Shoigu – he should get an idea of the place. Ukraine reported further small gains in territory.
The head of the Wagner mercenary unit, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has invited Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to the embattled city of Bakhmut to assess the situation. “In view of the difficult operational situation and your many years of combat experience, I ask you to come to Bakhmut, which is under the control of Russian military units, and assess the situation independently,” Prigozhin wrote in an open letter to the minister, which he sent to the telegram. channel of his press service published. The relationship between Prigozhin and Shoigu is considered tense.
In the past, the mercenary boss has repeatedly complained publicly about what he believes to be the lack of support from the Defense Ministry – and he also attacked Shoigu personally. The invitation can also be understood as mockery, especially the insertion with the “many years of combat experience”. Shoigu, although he has the title of army general, never served in the armed forces, something that Russian military bloggers have repeatedly criticized.
Prigozhin accuses the ministry of supplying him with too little ammunition to attack effectively. Most recently, he also complained about the lack of flank protection by regular units. His mercenaries ran the risk of being encircled in Bakhmut. The Ministry of Defense rejected these allegations.
Kiev speaks of recapturing two kilometers of territory
Meanwhile, according to information from Kiev, the Ukrainian army has recaptured two kilometers of territory in Bakhmut from Russia. The Russian side has suffered “considerable losses,” said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malijar in online networks. Ukraine, on the other hand, had “not given up a single position” in Bakhmut since the beginning of the week.
Several Russian war reporters and military bloggers had previously reported on successful attacks by Ukrainian troops near Bakhmut. However, the Russian Ministry of Defense has denied reports of a breakthrough by Ukrainian troops near Bakhmut.
Moscow: Overall situation under control
“The statements that individual Telegram channels spread about ‘breakthroughs in the defense lines’ in several places do not correspond to reality,” the ministry said on Telegram on Friday night. “The overall situation in the special operations area is under control,” stressed the Russian military leadership. Regarding Bakhmut, the Ministry of Defense only spoke of the “continuation of the liberation of the western part of Artemovsk (Soviet name of the city) with the support of the air force and artillery”. There were no details from Moscow.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
Fear of being surrounded by Russian troops
The war correspondent for Russian state television, Yevgeny Poddubny, wrote to Telegram in the evening that the Ukrainian attack successes on the flanks of the Wagner mercenary force fighting in the city threatened a comprehensive encirclement. Prigozhin had previously repeatedly warned of an impending pocket due to unsecured flanks. Poddubny had also reported on Ukrainian breakthroughs in fighting around Soledar. It is only a few kilometers northeast of Bakhmut. There, Ukrainian combat groups managed to break through the Russian lines.
Shaded: territories occupied by Russia
“The situation is difficult,” wrote Poddubny. Russian forces only took Soledar at the end of January after weeks of heavy fighting.
The battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is the longest-lasting in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which has been ongoing since February 2022. The city, which had a population of 70,000 before the start of the war, is largely destroyed and deserted after months of fighting. However, Bachmut has acquired great symbolic importance for both sides.