Igor Girkin, a former commander of the separatists in Donbas, one of the critics of the military command in Moscow for the way it conducts the war, ridicules the success announced by the Russian troops, saying that the big winter offensive was limited to the “front”. struck the heavily fortified positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and ended in failure,” even as the commander of the “Wagner” PMK Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu declared victory, seizing half of Bakhmut.

Girkin mocks the result announced on Wednesday by Prigozhin, who claims to control the eastern part of the city of Bakhmut, where bloody fighting has raged for months.

• “In no way denying the courage and heroism of the fighters and commanders of “Wagner” (as well as units of the Russian Armed Forces), I only note that the results of more than 2 months of brutal slaughter in the form of the capture of half of the blocks of a small town are evidence of anything but the leadership talents of two the aforementioned characters.
• And, unfortunately, I am confident that after the final capture of the city, the offensive will “curl” before the next enemy fortifications erected during the storming of Bakhmut and Soledar,” says the former minister of defense of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

Girkin claims that many Ukrainian soldiers died in the Bakhmut “meat grinder”, but this does not compensate for the fact that the great winter offensive announced by the Red Army still ended in utter defeat.

“I am forced to state that the winter offensive of the Russian Armed Forces was limited to frontal strikes against strongly fortified positions of the Armed Forces and in general ended in failure (which is in no way compensated for by the minor tactical successes of our troops and the high losses of the enemy),” concludes the ex-leader of the Donbas separatists.

The longest and bloodiest battle since the beginning of the war in Ukraine is still being fought in Bakhmut, a city that the Ukrainians staunchly defend and that the Russians want to capture after a long series of defeats at an extremely high cost.

A confrontation reminiscent of another of the bloodiest battles in history, which turned the Verdun battlefield into a true slaughterhouse.

• Why the Battle of Bakhmut is remarkably similar to the Battle of Verdun

Prigozhin claims Eastern Bakhmut

Wagner’s mercenary group has taken full control of the city of Bakhmut in the east of the country, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the paramilitary group, said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

If the claim is true, it would mean that Russian forces control almost half of the city in their costly bid for their first major victory in months.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in its Wednesday morning briefing that “despite significant losses, the enemy … continues its assault on the city of Bakhmut.”

“Units of the private military company Wagner have taken control of the eastern part of Bakhmut,” Prigozhin said in an audio recording on the Telegram channel of his press service.

“Everything east of the Bakhmutka River is completely under Wagner’s control,” says Wagner’s boss.

Reuters could not independently verify the information. Prigozhin also repeatedly stated that his mercenaries were successful, but this information was not confirmed.

Fierce resistance of Ukrainian troops

According to Prigozhin’s estimates on Tuesday, between 12,000 and 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers are fighting in the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, which is fiercely resisting Russian troops, EFE and Agerpres reported.

Fierce battles are taking place there “day and night”, “Ukrainians are not running away”, Prigozhin said in a statement from his press service.

“Zelenskyi’s people do not stop, they throw thousands and thousands more into the meat grinder,” he adds, still expressing his “admiration” for the Ukrainian soldiers who “die en masse for Bakhmut and surrender only as a last resort.” “Stop saying they are cowards! They are the same as us, they have the same blood,” the Wagner leader also wrote about the Ukrainian soldiers.

Prigozhin also says that the Russian troops in Bakhmut feel the “fury” of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, whose troops do not lack weapons and ammunition, and Wagner’s fighters still do not receive ammunition, weapons, equipment and ammunition from Moscow. the military equipment they need.

Follow the latest events of the 378th day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.