Prigozhin on Bakhmut: ‘The flanks are crumbling, the front is collapsing’
Wagner Group founder Evgeny Prigozhin has repeated his claim, first made yesterday, that Russian Defense Ministry troops surrendered their positions on the outskirts of Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, allowing Ukraine’s Armed Forces to occupy important tactical heights. Prigozhin’s press service released a video of the tycoon’s response to media requests for his comments.
According to Prigozhin, Defense Ministry troops stopped blocking the road leading out of Bakhmut to the Ukrainian army’s rear position, in the city of Chasiv Yar. “Only today did the enemy fully liberate the Chasiv Yar–Bakhmut road, which we were blocking, in what was called the ‘encirclement of Bakhmut.’ Now the enemy will be able to use this road, first of all, and second, they took tactical heights, from which Bakhmut is in full view,” said Prigozhin.
Meduza cannot immediately verify claims about the liberation of the Bakhmut–Chasiv Yar road. In recent days, Ukrainian sources have been reporting that the road is not blocked, but that it is still under fire. As recently as May 10, AFU’s 93rd brigade, which is located in Bakhmut, spoke of a Russian offensive in the area of the Bakhmut–Chasiv Yar road.
The Wagner Group founder also said that Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov “dissembled” when he told journalists, at a briefing, that Russian troops had occupied positions at the Berkhovsky resservoir. “After we transferred our flanks there was a non-tactical retreat, so comrade Konashenkov, putting it gently, was dissembling. What happened was Defense Ministry troops simply fled from our flanks,” said Prigozhin.
Earlier, the Defense Ministry spokesman said that units from the Southern grouping occupied the line “with the goal of increasing the stability of the defense” and “taking into account the favorable conditions of the Berkhovsky reservoir.”
Prigozhin said that in order to fully capture Bakhmut, Wagner Group needed to occupy around 20 tall buildings. “But the Russian Federation’s capture of Bakhmut gives us nothing because the flanks are crumbling, the front is collapsing. The Defense Ministry’s attempts in the information field to somehow smooth over the situation are leading and will lead to a global tragedy for Russia. So you need to stop lying immediately. If you ran away, then build another front line,” he said.