Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian mercenary organization Wagnersaid his forces would continue to fight for Russia even after they had withdrawn from the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

“Wagner fighters will be retained for the following operations in the interests of Russia,” Russian state media quoted him today as saying.

Production, Prigogine angrily stated in his taped message that he would withdraw Wagner’s troops from Bahamut on 10 May due to insufficient supplies of ammunition from Moscow.

Anti-aircraft alarm, downed drone in Kyiv

Meanwhile, on the battlefield for several hours from yesterday evening until this morning, an alert of imminent air strikes was in effect, covering almost two-thirds of Ukraine’s territory, with officials saying that air defense systems were shot down by drones, including one in Kiev airspace.

“During the last air defense alert, an enemy reconnaissance UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) was detected in the airspace of Kiev,” the military command of Kyiv said in a message on the Telegram messenger. “The drone was destroyed… According to preliminary data, there are no casualties or damage.”

Air raid alerts spread from the capital, Kyiv, and areas in the west to all areas in the east and south of the country, as far as Kherson and Russian-annexed Crimea. A Russian-appointed official in Crimea said Ukraine had sent more than 10 drones over Crimea.

Officials in several regions of Ukraine said air defense systems were deployed during the night, but there were no reports of possible casualties or damage as of this morning.

Explosions in Crimea

According to Russian and Ukrainian media reports, explosions thundered in Crimea early in the morning on the territory of the Russian-annexed peninsula.

Reuters relays information from the Russian channel Baza to Telegram, according to which Ukrainian forces launched a strike using at least 10 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and at least three of them were shot down over Sevastopol.

According to Ukrainian media, the explosions occurred in the port of Sevastopol and in Saki, where the Russian airbase is located.

The Moscow-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozaev, wrote in a Telegram message that there was no damage to the infrastructure in the area.

Reuters stresses that it cannot verify the reports.

Kyiv has repeatedly stated its intention to regain the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, which is not recognized by the international community. However, the Ukrainian government denies any involvement in the attacks in Crimea.

Source: DPA, Reuters, APE-MPE.