Prigozhin Says Russian Military Fleeing Bakhmut
Russian troops are fleeing the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin said Friday, suggesting that an official statement issued by Russia's Defense Ministry about the situation is untrue.
Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the ministry, said Friday that units of the "Southern" group of Russian troops had regrouped to take up more advantageous positions.
"In order to increase the stability of defense, units of the 'Southern' group of Russian troops occupied the line in the Maloilyinovka direction," Konashenkov said, noting that the unit took into account "the favorable conditions of the Berkhivka reservoir."
Prigozhin's latest remarks come shortly after he threatened to withdraw his Wagner Group fighters from Bakhmut because of a lack of ammunition and support from Russia's defense ministry.
His fighters have fought in the city for months as Moscow hopes to secure its first major battlefield victory in the the war since the summer of 2022, but recently, he has ramped up his verbal attacks on Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
Responding to Konashenkov's comments about the situation in Bakhmut, Prigozhin said in a brief audio message published on Telegram that Russian troops are fleeing Bakhmut, not regrouping, as the defense ministry suggested.
"I'm on my way now to the nearest headquarters where I can explain, and I will explain what it is," he said. "What Konashenkov said, unfortunately, is called fleeing, not regrouping. How does it look like? I'll explain in more detail."
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry via email for comment.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on her Telegram channel on Friday that Ukraine's armed forces advanced 2 kilometers (around 1.2 miles) in the direction of Bakhmut.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, similarly said in an assessment published Thursday that Ukrainian forces likely broke through some Russian lines in counterattacks near Bakhmut, citing Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces Commander Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi as saying that Russian forces "retreated up to 2 kilometers behind Russian lines in unspecified sectors of the Bakhmut front."
However, the Russian Defense Ministry swiftly rejected reports of Ukrainian breakthroughs in the city. It said that the "overall situation in the area of the special military operation is under control."
Prigozhin earlier sent an open letter to Shoigu claiming that the Wagner Group controls 95 percent of Bakhmut. He said units under the control of Russia's armed forces had been "successfully counterattacked" by Ukraine.
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