The founder of the Russian private military company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that the tasks of the operation assigned to Wagner in the city of Artemovsk, Donetsk People’s Republic, have been fully completed.
Prigozhin said, according to a message from his press office via Telegram on Saturday: The operation … was designed “basically not to capture Bakhmut, but to eliminate units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and organize a respite for the Russian army to restore hostilities.” ability”. “Mission completed,” he added.
Earlier, Prigozhin said that the Ukrainian armed forces blew up several buildings in the Bakhmut area, while indicating that Russian forces were continuing their offensive.
Yevgeny Prigozhin confirmed his readiness to surrender facilities in the city of Artemovsk to the Chechen forces of “Ahmed” at midnight on May 10 in response to the proposal of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who confirmed that his forces were ready to go to Bakhmut and await orders.
Kadyrov expressed confidence that the city would be liberated in the near future, “despite all sorts of rumors about a frightening counteroffensive by Ukrainian troops.”
He added: “We have begun to develop our strategy for working in this area with the Russian Ministry of Defense, taking into account the tactics of the enemy and the resources we have. And believe me, tactics will give positive results.
Yesterday, Prigozhin stated that the “Wagner” units still have some opportunities for an offensive in Artemovsk, and that the “Wagner” units will remain in their positions in Artemovsk until May 9, and then “go out to the rear camps” to “heal the wounds” and spare the fighters. losses.
Several explosions sounded on the ground on Saturday evening in Dnipro (formerly Dnepropetrovsk), Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian newspaper Strana. According to an official source informing citizens, an air alert has been declared in the Dnepropetrovsk region.
