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Wagner mercenaries chief admits Russia facing Bakhmut resistance | Russia-Ukraine war News

Yevgeny Prigozhin has admitted that Russian troops are engaged in a fierce battle to capture the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head Wagner of Russia group of mercenaries, said that the Russian forces must grasp the strategy Ukrainian city of Bakhmut to wage their war campaign but they faced fierce resistance from Ukraine.

In a rare interview published Friday with a Russian military reporter, Prigozhin said Russia must establish clear goals in its nearly year-long war with Ukraine, namely setting up solidify its presence in eastern Ukraine or move on to occupy more of the country. Complete capturing Bakhmut is the key with those plans, he said.

“Bakhmut is necessary for our army to be able to operate comfortably,” said Prigozhin.

“Why is it called a meat grinder? Because the Ukrainian army is sending more and more units.”

Wagner mercenaries, many enlisted from prisons in Russia, played a major role in the war in Ukraineespecially last month when they captured the town of Soledar, near Bakhmut – the city already existed battle month and bombardments and were referred to by both sides as “meat grinders”.

“Perhaps it is too early to say that we are close,” chief Wagner said of the capture of Bakhmut.

“There are many ways out and few ways in. The Ukrainian army is well trained… and like any major city, it was impossible to capture it from scratch. We are managing very well,” he added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoE1rYMlRvY

“First, we have to quietly take Artyomovsk and then we can say loudly and clearly that we have taken it,” he added, referring to Bakhmut by the Soviet-era name used by Moscow.

The UK’s Ministry of Defense said Wagner’s forces appeared to have advanced 2 to 3km (1 to 2 miles) around northern Bakhmut since Tuesday – a quick boost in a battle in which the frontline has mostly been. like not moving for months. It said Wagner fighter jets now threaten the main western access route to Bakhmut although a Ukrainian military analyst said supplies are still coming through.

The British Ministry also said Russian forces had made some progress near Vuhledar, a Ukrainian-held fortress that served as a crossroads between the southern and eastern fronts. But it added that Russia’s limited interests could come at a heavy cost, including at least 30 armored vehicles being abandoned in a failed attack.

Prigozhin also said the battle to capture Soledar – waged after failures to capture Bakhmut – was comparable to the six months of fighting needed for Soviet troops to defend Stalingrad during World War II. Prigozhin harshly criticized the failures of the Russian regular army in the invasion of Ukraine and get involved in a public dispute with Kremlin commanders as he maintained that the battle for Soledar was conducted exclusively by his Wagner forces after the regular army declared victory.

In comments seemingly aimed at Russia’s defense establishment, Prigozhin complained in January of “infighting, corruption, bureaucracy and officials wanting to stay in their positions,” as well as the fact that which he called continued efforts to “steal victory” from Wagner.

In January, the United States officially labeled the Wagner Corporation as a “transnational criminal organization” and the European Union have accused Wagner’s forces of human rights violations, including torture and extrajudicial killing in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, Central African Republic, Sudan and Mozambique.

Military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said the situation around Bakhmut remains perhaps the most difficult facing Ukrainian forces as Russia deploys more and more conscripts to surround the city.

“The area south of Bakhmut is a very difficult area,” Zhdanov said in an online interview.

“And the city itself remains the hottest spot on the front at this point,” he said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKlJyMRpwZg



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