Wagner, the head of a Russian paramilitary group, said the city of Bakhmut, the epicenter of fighting in eastern Ukraine, would not fall until “March or April”, attacking Russia’s “military bureaucracy” which he said was delaying the advance, according to the data. for AFP.

Evgeny PrigozhinPhoto: Kommersant photo agency / ddp USA / Profimedia

His comments came as Russia seeks victory days before the anniversary of its February 24 invasion of Ukraine, and amid an increase in its assault on eastern Ukrainian territory in recent weeks.

“I think it’s March or April. To capture Bakhmut, you need to block all Ukrainian supply routes,” Yevhen Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, said in a video published online.

“I think we would have conquered Bakhmut if it weren’t for this terrible military bureaucracy and if it didn’t obstruct us every day,” Prigozhin continued in another video, publicly airing his disagreements with the military hierarchy.

The founder of Wagner’s mercenary group also said on Wednesday that the city of Bakhmut could be surrounded in March or April, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

However, Prigozhin added that this is “difficult to predict” and Russia’s success in encircling the city depends in part on the amount of Western weapons delivered to Ukraine.

“We will not celebrate too soon,” Prigozhin admitted, as quoted by his Telegram press service.

“Bakhmut will not be taken tomorrow, because there is strong resistance, shelling, and the meat grinder is working,” he added, referring to the heavy losses on the battlefield.

After the termination of recruitment from prisons, Wagner will have to curtail his activities

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has admitted that his mercenary group is facing difficulties in Ukraine and will soon “shrink” in size amid mounting evidence that its political influence in the Kremlin is waning, The Guardian reports.

“The number of units of the Wagner PMC will decrease, and we will also not be able to perform the amount of tasks that we would like,” Prigozhin told a group of pro-war bloggers and state journalists gathered at an army barracks in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday. .

“You have all heard that the recruitment of prisoners to our ranks has stopped,” Prigozhin said.

The businessman did not explain why he stopped recruiting at the prison, but observers say the move is part of a growing backlash against him by Russian intelligence services.

Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on February 9 that the Russian mercenary group had stopped recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine, Reuters reports.

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