The head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Thursday that Ukrainian troops had not left the town of Bakhmut, but even if they had, the mercenaries would need additional support from the Russian regular army to try to advance further, Reuters reported.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenaries of the “Wagner” PMC, said on Sunday evening that his forces raised the Russian flag on the administrative building. Prigozhin claimed that from a “legal” point of view, Bakhmut was captured by Russia.

Kyiv said on Monday that Russian forces were “very far” from capturing the eastern city of Bakhmut, and that fighting was continuing around an administrative building where a group of Wagner mercenaries claimed to have hoisted a Russian flag.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that he would consider withdrawing from the city if his forces risked being surrounded by Russian troops.

Wagner’s mercenaries are fighting for the city in what has become the bloodiest battle of the 13-month war, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said its capture will open up the battlefield and allow Russia to push further into eastern Ukraine.

But Yevgeny Prigozhin, who in recent months has accused the Russian military leadership of inefficiency to the point of treason, said that prospect is still distant.

“It is necessary to make it clear that the enemy will not go anywhere,” he said in his Telegram channel.

Chief Wagner says that Ukrainian forces have set up strong defenses inside the city, especially along the railroad tracks and in high-rise buildings in the west of the city, and if they retreat, they will take up new positions on the outskirts and in Cheasiv I to the west.

“Therefore, in my opinion, there is no question of any (Russian) offensive yet,” Prigozhin said.

Prigozhin, dissatisfied with the support of the Russian army

He also noted that he is still not satisfied with the support he receives from the main forces of Russia, including those attacking adjacent areas of the front.

At the same time, he again criticized the military leadership for the three problems he has been complaining about for a long time – the protection of the flanks, the command structure and the supply of ammunition.

“The first thing is to make sure our flanks are well protected (that’s with a big exclamation mark),” he said.

“The second is to make sure that we have a properly organized command,” continued Prigozhin.

“I do not know what to do”

According to him, he has not seen General Serhii Surovykin, his close friend, who led the Russian campaign in Ukraine for several months before General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff, was given operational command. “I don’t know what he’s up to,” Prigozhin said.

“And thirdly, it’s ammunition (another exclamation mark),” he added, repeatedly accusing Moscow of running out of ammunition.

Prigozhin’s active use of social media to promote himself and his company of mercenaries and to criticize the Russian military establishment led to speculation, which he denied, that he had political ambitions.

However, tensions with Moscow appeared to have eased after a month ago its representative was clearly denied access to the Russian campaign headquarters in Ukraine. (news.ro)

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