The Ukrainian Armed Forces today expressed satisfaction with the “first success” of their attack on the outskirts of Bakhmut, in Eastern Ukrainethe longest and bloodiest battle in the conflict with Russia.

“The advance of our troops into the Bakhmut zone is the first success of an offensive” aimed at defending the city, which the Russians have been trying to capture since last summer, said Oleksandr Sirksi, commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, according to the Defense Ministry.

In addition, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Khana Malyar said today that Russia’s plans for the occupation of Bakhmut have not changed and new forces are being deployed to the outskirts of this city.

Mallyar made the comment in a post on the messaging app Telegram.

Prigozhin offered to reveal Russian positions

At the same time, it is emphasized that new information about the actions of Yevgeny Prigozhin appeared after the leak of secret documents of the American intelligence services on the Discord platform.

According to documents obtained by the Washington Post, in late January, as his men were dying by the thousands fighting for Bakhmut, the founder and head of the Wagner mercenary organization, Yevgeny Prigozhin, made an equally unexpected proposal to the Ukrainians.

Prigozhin promised that if the Ukrainian command withdraws its troops from the Bakhmut region, he will pass on information to Kiev about the positions of Russian troops – information that Ukraine can use to attack, inflicting a critical hit on manpower and military equipment.

^{According to APE, Reuters, AFP, Washington Post.}