Ukraine still controls a key supply route in Bakhmut, the spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Serhiy Cherevaty said on Saturday, as the head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner threatened to withdraw part of his forces from the city to the east of the country if Moscow did not send more ammunition, Reuters reported.

For 10 months, Russian troops have been trying to break through to the remains of what was once a city of 70,000 people. Kyiv has promised to defend Bakhmut, which Russia sees as a gateway to attack other cities.

“For several weeks now, the Russians have been talking about seizing the ‘road of life’, as well as constant fire control over it,” Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Ukrainian forces in the east, said in an interview with local news. the Mirror of the Week website.

“Yes, it is very difficult there… (but) the defense forces did not allow the Russians to “cut” our logistics.”

The “Road of Life” is a vital road between the destroyed Bakhmut and the neighboring town of Chasiv Yar in the west – a distance of just over 17 km.

The main command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a daily report on Sunday that over the past 24 hours, its forces have repelled 58 Russian attacks along the front line from Bakhmut through Avdiyivka to Maryinka in the south of Donetsk region.

According to military analysts, if Bakhmut is captured, Chasiv Yar will likely be the next to be attacked by Russia, even though it is on high ground and Ukrainian forces are believed to have built defensive fortifications nearby.

Prigozhin claims that Ukrainian troops still control 3 sq. km in Bakhmut

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner’s group, which often claimed unverifiable successes, said his troops had advanced 100 to 150 meters deep into Bakhmut, leaving just under 3 square kilometers of the city in Ukrainian hands.

But he said he lost 94 soldiers.

“There would be five times less of them if we had more ammunition,” Prigozhin said on Saturday evening in the Telegram channel of his press service.

Also, in a nearly 90-minute video interview with Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov published on Saturday, Prigozhin threatened to withdraw troops from Bakhmut, saying he only had a few days’ worth of ammunition left.

“If the shortage of ammunition is not filled, then … most likely, we will have to withdraw part of the units,” Prigozhin said, referring to a letter sent to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Soyg, which specified the deadline. from April 28

Prigozhin often stated that the regular armed forces did not provide his men with the necessary ammunition, and sometimes accused the command of treason.

“We must stop deceiving the population and tell them that everything is fine,” Prigozhin said in an interview.

“I must say frankly: Russia is on the brink of disaster.”

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