The founder of the Russian private military company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that the Wagner units still have opportunities for an offensive in Artemovsk (Bakhmut).
Prigozhin said, according to a message from his press office via Telegram, on Friday: “Despite an acute shortage of shells, units of the Russian private military company Wagner today advanced up to 170 meters in various directions and took control of 59.5 thousand square meters. meters of the city.
Journalist Mohamed Al-Baba talks about the evidence in #Bakhmut Confirm the suffering of the Russian troops and #wagner From lack of ammunition and logistics#Arab rice.twitter.com/e9PwqRLWD6
– Arabic (@AlArabiya) May 6, 2023
He added: “The enemy still controls 2.52 square kilometers”, noting that his forces still have the ability to advance in Bakhmut until the end of 9 May.
Earlier, Prigozhin said that the “Wagner” units would remain in positions in Artemovsk until May 9, and then “would go to the rear camps” in order to “heal the wounds” and save the fighters from losses.
On Friday, the head of the Russian Wagner Group held the Russian army chief of staff responsible for “tens of thousands of dead and wounded” Russians in Ukraine in a message addressed directly to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
It comes at a time when Ukraine’s deputy defense minister has warned that Russia plans to use Wagner fighters to take control of the city of Bakhmut on May 9, coinciding with Russia’s annual Victory Day celebration.
Yuriy Sak, an adviser to the Ukrainian Defense Minister, told Al-Arabiya that the escalation of the dispute between Wagner and the Russian Defense Ministry is due to his inability to control Bakhmut, pointing to the heavy losses suffered by Wagner and the Russian army, and the approach of Bakhmut’s control.
On Friday, Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine continued as the Russian army tries to expand its control over other Ukrainian regions, while Kiev tries to counter Russian forces and rebuild its lands with military and logistical support from the West.
The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv and a number of cities have issued an air warning in anticipation of Russian air attacks as the number of air warnings has skyrocketed in recent days. Over the past three days, he has issued six warnings about Russian attacks.
For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed at a meeting with members of the National Security and Defense Council the course of preparations for the celebration of Victory Day, timed to coincide with May 9 next year.
RIA Novosti quoted the Kremlin as saying the parade would take place this year as planned, despite what it called a Ukrainian attempt to assassinate the Russian president by attacking a building in the Kremlin’s presidential complex.
