Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner PMC mercenaries, said on Saturday that he wants his forces and the Russian army to capture the small town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine because it has “underground cities” through which troops and tanks can move, Reuters reported.

Fierce fighting by Russian forces for more than five months to capture Bakhmut has puzzled some Western military analysts, who said the heavy casualties suffered by Russia and the fact that Ukraine had established defensive lines nearby meant that any Russian victory there , if it happens, it would be “pirytsya”.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Russian Wagner Group, whose mercenaries are fighting in Bakhmut, explained in detail on Saturday why he is so eager to capture this city.

“The icing on the cake is the mine system of Soledar and Bakhmut, which is actually a network of underground cities,” said Prigozhin, who believes that soldiers, tanks and combat vehicles can move through this underground network at a depth of 80-100 meters. .

Prigozhin, who is likely to increase his political capital in Moscow if he captures Bakhmut given the Wagner Group’s role in the fighting there, said the weapons stockpile had been stored in underground compounds since the First World War.

His comments were a reference to the vast salt and gypsum mines in the area, which contain more than 100 miles of tunnels and a huge underground chamber where, in more peaceful times, football matches and classical music concerts were held.

For Prigozhin, Bakhmut is a center of fortifications

A White House official said Thursday that Prigozhin wanted to conquer Bakhmut because of the area’s salt and gypsum mines for commercial reasons. He did not mention their alleged underground military use.

Prigozhin, under sanctions in the West, also mentioned other advantages of capturing the city of Bakhmut, calling it a “serious logistics center” with unique defensive fortifications.

He made his comments on the Telegram channel of his press service as gunfire rang out on the largely deserted streets of Bakhmut on Saturday, despite a unilateral ceasefire declared by the Russians to mark Orthodox Christmas. Both Kyiv and the West called this statement a ploy by the Russians to give them time to regroup.

Bakhmut is the center of the most intense fighting in Ukraine, and Prigozhin made his comments as another Telegram channel linked to Wagner said Russia had captured the strategically important town of Soledar on the outskirts of Bakhmut.

Reuters could not independently verify the claim.

Earlier on Saturday, the Ministry of Defense of Russia reported on fierce fighting in the east of Ukraine.

A Ukrainian defense ministry official said the town of Soledar, which is near Bakhmut, where the salt mine is located, was still under Ukrainian control despite what he called brutal Russian attacks.