The combat operations of Wagner’s mercenaries in Bakhmut will continue for another two months, if their tactics do not change, Serhii Tserevaty, the spokesman of the Eastern Operational Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on April 11, reported April 11. Independent Kyiv.The Ukrainian’s statement was made on the same day when Yevgeny Prigozhin said that Wagner conquered 80% of Bakhmut.

Speaking on national television, Cherevati admitted that the forecast was subjective, even though it was based on high casualties among Wagner’s troops.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar wrote on February 16 that the Kremlin-backed private mercenary group Wagner and pro-Russian units operating in eastern Ukraine are losing up to 80 percent of some assault units.

It is also Cherevati, who on Tuesday refuted claims by Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, who said a group of mercenaries had taken over 80 percent of Bakhmut.

“This statement by Prigozhin is not true,” Serhii Tserevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Operational Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told CNN on Tuesday. “I just contacted the commander of one of the brigades defending the city. I can confidently state that the Armed Forces control a much larger percentage of the territory of Bakhmut.”

The head of Wagner’s mercenary group, Yevhen Prigozhin, claims that his forces now control more than 80% of the besieged city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, writes The Guardian.

In a video posted on Telegram by a Russian military blogger, Prigozhin can be seen holding a map of the area showing his forces continuing to encircle the city. “In Bakhmut, most of it, more than 80%, is now under our control, including the entire administrative center, factories, warehouses, city administration,” says Chief Wagner.

Prigozhin’s claims have not been independently verified, and he has made claims in the past about Russian control of Bakhmut that turned out to be false, The Guardian notes.

The commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky on Monday accused the Russian troops of using “scorched earth” tactics in Bakhmut. According to him, the situation is “complicated, but manageable.”

Wagner uses advertising on the streets of Moscow to attract mercenaries

A huge recruitment notice for Wagner’s Russian mercenary group appeared on the facade of an office building near a highway in northeast Moscow as the group suffered heavy losses fighting for control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

Its leader, 61-year-old Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose company made its fortune catering events and contracts with the Kremlin and government ministries, said in early March that he intended to recruit 30,000 new fighters by mid-May.

In January, the United States estimated that Wagner had about 50,000 militants in Ukraine, including 40,000 convicts Prigozhin had recruited from Russian prisons with the promise of a pardon if they survived six months.

Ukrainian officials stated that about 30,000 fighters of the “Wagner” PMK deserted, were killed or wounded, this figure cannot be independently verified.

Wagner PMC boss Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted in February that his mercenary group was facing difficulties in Ukraine and would soon “shrink” in size amid growing evidence that its political influence in the Kremlin is waning.