Prigozhin Says Russian 'Flanks Are Collapsing' in Bakhmut
Russian troops have "fled from the flanks" around Bakhmut, according to Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose pro-Kremlin mercenaries have been attempting to seize the embattled city for months.
On Friday, Prigozhin claimed Russia's Defense Ministry had "fibbed a little" after it claimed a Ukrainian attack had been repelled near Bakhmut before Moscow's troops regrouped at a new position with "favorable conditions."
Russian forces are in control of most of Bakhmut, but Ukrainian troops are still holding out in western parts of the Donbas city and they have begun counter-attacking on the flanks. Whilst of limited strategic value, Bakhmut has developed enormous symbolic importance to both sides and is a potential target for a long-awaited Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Ukrainian servicemen ride in a BMP infantry fighting vehicle near the town of Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, on April 28, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces have "fled from the flanks" around Bakhmut, according to Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/GETTY
In a briefing on Friday, Igor Konashenkov, spokesperson for Russia's Defense Ministry, claimed a Ukrainian attack had been repulsed around Soledar, situated directly to the north of Bakhmut.
He said: "On the Soledar tactical front yesterday, the enemy carried out offensive actions along the entire line of combat of the parties with a length of more than 95 kilometers.
"Units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out 26 attacks, which involved more than a thousand servicemen, up to 40 tanks, as well as other military and special equipment. All attacks by units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were repelled, no breakthroughs in the defense of Russian troops were allowed."
Konashenkov added: "On the Maloirynivka front, in order to increase the stability of the defense, units of the southern group of Russian troops occupied the frontier, considering the favorable conditions of the Berkhivka Reservoir."
However, this version of events was fiercely contested by Prigozhin, who claimed Ukrainian gains could lead to the "gradual encirclement of Bakhmut" in a post on the Telegram social media platform.
Claiming months of Russian progress was being undone, Prigozhin said: "The entire operation from the west to Bakhmut lasted from 8 October [2022], seven months. During this time, we took, in particular, the Berkhivka Reservoir, the settlement of Berkhivka and moved along the Bakhmut-Slavinsk road in the direction of Slavinsk. Now the reverse process is happening.
"After we transferred the flanks, there wasn't a tactical retreat. Comrade Konashenkov, to put it mildly, fibbed a little. The [Russian] Ministry of Defence simply fled from the flanks."
Prigozhin has become increasingly outspoken in his criticism of senior Russian military figures, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries for comment.
Earlier this month Prigozhin said Wagner would pull back from Bakhmut, citing ammunition shortages which he blamed on the Defense Ministry, though he later reversed this position after more supplies were promised.
Last week Prigozhin, nicknamed 'Putin's chef' as he also owns a catering company that has done work for the Kremlin, insisted Bakhmut "will be taken."
He also praised the Ukrainian defenders, commenting: "The enemy is well equipped, well trained, acts in a coordinated manner and resists with dignity, so we move on, everything is blazing, burning."
Source: Newsweek
