Last Friday, Mr. Evgeny Prigozhin he had the air of a soldier in the radiance of his triumph. In full gear, the founder of the private mercenary company Wagner, fighting alongside his regular army Russia six months after the capture of Bakhmut, he announced that the city was now “virtually surrounded” and called on the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky recall your men so that they are not killed needlessly.

However, for the next twenty-four hours Ukrainian soldiers they offered fierce resistance and repulsed successive attacks by Russian soldiers and mercenaries, creating a feeling that the battle of Bahamut had not yet been decided. Along with the picture of the course of affairs, Prigogine’s mood also changed dramatically.

It all started with a video posted online by its leader. Wagner on Saturday – although according to the BBC this was filmed in February – in which he expressed his fear that some in Moscow were “laying a trap” for his mercenary army to blame him for a possible military defeat. “If we retreat, we will go down in history as those who made the fateful decision to lose the war. Maybe someone (in Moscow) wants to lure us into a trap … and therefore does not send ammunition? Prigogine considered. On Sunday, the “chef,” as the oligarch with restaurants and catering companies serving the Kremlin is known in Russia, struck again. On social networks, he claimed that a contract had been signed since February 22, according to which the Ministry of Defense was obliged to supply Wagner with ammunition so that his people could continue their operations. This, however, did not happen, and Prigozhin admits that he is not sure whether these are “ordinary bureaucratic problems, or high treason” – a serious accusation against the top military leadership.

The last, so far, dramatic act was written yesterday, when Prigozhin complained that his representatives had been blocked from accessing the operational headquarters of the Russian army, without specifying where the headquarters was located. It should be noted that in the video released on Saturday, Prigozhin is blackmailing the Defense Ministry and the Kremlin by threatening to withdraw his people from Bakhmut, which, in his opinion, could lead to the “collapse” of the entire front. As of last night, there was no response to Prigozhin’s objections from the Russian military and political leadership.

Zelensky decided to continue the vigorous defense of the besieged city after meeting with the military leadership.

In Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelensky’s office reported that the country’s president had a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Zaluzny and head of the ground forces Oleksandr Shirsky. The same statement indicated that the military leadership spoke in favor of continuing efforts to protect Bakhmut and strengthening the defensive positions of the Ukrainian army in the city. On Saturday, Deputy Mayor Bakhmut reported on street fighting in urban areas, and several international media noted that the Ukrainian army was preparing for an organized retreat. In statements yesterday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin calculated that even if the Russians defeated Bahamut, “it would not necessarily mean they would be able to turn the tide of the war,” adding that “it would be more symbolic and less about strategic and operational success.” The Washington, D.C.-based Institute of Military Studies has calculated that the stubborn resistance the Russians have faced over the past six months in a small town like Bakhmut, as well as the failure of their recent attack on another town, Volendar, signal that that the Ukrainians, with the very heavy losses they inflict on the enemy, have a good chance of a dynamic counterattack in the coming months.

Shoigu in Mariupol.

Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu yesterday visited Mariupol, the Ukrainian port on the Sea of ​​Azov, captured by the Russian army after a merciless months-long siege. On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported one of Shoigu’s rare visits to the Russian military’s operational headquarters in eastern Ukraine as fierce fighting for control of Bakhmut escalated.