Russian forces must fight for weeks to capture “a single house” in Bakhmut, the head of the mercenary group, Wagner, said, as he apparently blames the lack of supplies from the Kremlin for the slow progress.

Bakhmut is one of the largest cities still held by Kyiv in the industrial Donetsk region and has been at the center of the Russian offensive since August.

British intelligence notes that Russian troops are unlikely to make much progress, despite the fact that during one of the bloodiest battles of the war, thousands of people were dropped into the city.

“Everyone is asking,” said Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner group, in a video posted on social media, “when will you understand Bahamut?”

Explaining why his mercenaries, who were given a prominent role in the attack, have so far failed, the 61-year-old said that “every house is a fortress.”

Prigozhin is known as “Putin’s chef” for his lucrative food contracts from the Russian leader.

In a conversation with soldiers from the underground gym, he said that they did not have enough equipment to quickly gain a foothold in the city and its environs.

Prigozhin added: “We don’t have enough equipment, BMP-3 tanks and 100mm howitzers to move through Arimovsk. [το ρωσικό όνομα του Μπαχμούτ] faster and with more confidence. We do not have enough ammunition and armored vehicles.”

An unnamed Wagner soldier seemed to agree, adding, “We don’t have enough equipment, we don’t have enough BMP-3s and howitzers.”

In recent months, as the Wagner group has taken on a growing stake in the war in Ukraine, Prigozhin has taken a more public role in running his mercenary army.

On New Year’s Day, a video was released of him visiting a makeshift morgue, where he noticed corpses on stretchers and a pile of body bags in a corner of an underground bunker.

“Here are Wagner soldiers who died at the front. Now they are being placed in coffins, and they will return home,” said “Putin’s cook.”

Prigozhin, who had previously “traveled” in Russian prisons, relied on the use of prisoners to fill gaps in his forces, who are believed to have suffered heavy casualties at the Battle of Bakhmut. Certainly, his latest intervention seemed to confirm the hardships his people had faced in recent months.

At its daily briefing, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that Russian forces have stepped up ground attacks, but many operations have not received adequate support.

The British military added: “Over the past 10 days, Ukraine has committed significant forces to the defense of the region, and the frequency of Russian attacks has likely decreased from a peak in mid-December. Both sides suffered heavy losses. Russian operations in the region are now likely to be conducted only at the platoon or division level. It is unlikely that in the coming weeks Russia will advance significantly near Bakhmut.

According to the Telegraph