Wagner's Prigozhin Says Bakhmut Is No Longer Under Russian Control

Prigozhin has lots of self-interested reasons to be rooting against the Russians at Bakhmut, if only to compare their failure to Wagner's ostensible success.  And he is hardly a reliable source. 

But he is claiming the Russians who replaced Wagner forces in Bakhmut have already lost the city to the Ukrainians, which is an easily verifiable statement - one he would be unlikely to make unless it were at least mostly true - and he could then intervene to change the course of the battle. But the larger issue is whether Russian troops will withdraw across the entire front as Ukraine attacks. JL

Isabel Van Brugen reports in Newsweek:

Days after forces from Russia's Wagner Group withdrew from Bakhmut, its chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said the city is no longer under Russian control, and that troops under the leadership of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov are fleeing. Ukrainian forces have now retaken part of the settlement of Berkhivka, north of Bakhmut, Prigozhin said, calling it "shameful."

Days after forces from Russia's Wagner Group withdrew from Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, its chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said the city is no longer under Russian control, and that troops under the leadership of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov are fleeing.

Ukrainian forces have now retaken part of the settlement of Berkhivka, north of Bakhmut, Prigozhin said, calling it "shameful."

The Russian paramilitary group's chief made his remarks in an audio message published by his press service on Monday. He said on May 25 that Wagner mercenaries had begun their retreat from the embattled city of Bakhmut, and that they would completely withdraw by June 1, giving way to regular Russian units. Prigozhin's fighters had been involved in the bloody battle for Bakhmut since the summer of 2022.

"When the Chief of the General Staff and Shoigu regrouped and stood along the Berkhivsky reservoir, they were talking about how it was to protect the village of Berkhivka, because it was a very advantageous position. So advantageous that everyone was just bargaining for them," said Prigozhin on Monday.

"Now part of the Berkhivka settlement has already been already lost. Troops are running away quietly, it's shameful!"

 

Their recent withdrawal came after Prigozhin released several videos accusing Shoigu and Gerasimov of intentionally depriving his fighters of ammunition.

He urged Shoigu and Gerasimov to "come to the front."

"Raise the army with pistols, so that they can march forward," Prigozhin added. "Come on, you can do it! And if you can't, you'll die as heroes."

Prigozhin's rift with Russia's military leadership has been deepening for months.

Earlier on Monday, Prigozhin published a video that he says shows a captured Russian lieutenant colonel admitting to opening fire on his fighters in the Bakhmut area while intoxicated. He also claimed in another post that the road on which his fighters withdrew from the city was deliberately mined by Russia's military.

In the video, the man introduced himself as Lieutenant Colonel Roman Venevitin, commander of the 72nd motorized rifle brigade. He said that together with between 10 to 12 of his subordinates, he disarmed a group of Wagner Group fighters and "opened fire on a Wagner PMC (private military company) vehicle [while] intoxicated from alcohol." He said he did this because of "bad blood."

Prigozhin also claimed that on May 17 Russia's military had left land mines that were deliberately targeted at his fighters, as they were placed on routes for the Wagner Group's withdrawal from Bakhmut. Russian forces opened fire on his troops as they attempted to clear the mines, he said.