The Russian army is retreating in several areas of southern and eastern Ukraine, the leader of the Wagner paramilitary group said on Friday, contradicting Moscow’s claims that Kyiv’s counteroffensive had failed.
“Army [russo] departs from the districts of Zaporozhye and Kherson [sul]the Ukrainian armed forces are advancing,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video posted on the Telegram social network, which was quoted by the French agency AFP.
Prigozhin said the same thing is happening in Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces are breaking through Russian defenses.
Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine has been the scene of the longest and bloodiest battle since the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
Russian troops claim to have captured the town where Wagner Group mercenaries fought, but Ukrainians say they have been outflanking in recent weeks.
“No control, no military success” from Moscow, Prigozhin said, saying that the Russian military was “washing itself in its own blood”, that is, suffering heavy losses.
Prigozhin’s comments, which cannot be independently verified, contradict Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who said the army is repelling all Ukrainian attacks.
Putin has been repeating in recent days that the Ukrainian counter-offensive has failed and that Kyiv forces have suffered near-catastrophic losses.
On Thursday, Shoigu said the Ukrainian army was regrouping after failing to break through Russian defenses.
Prigozhin called the Ministry of Defense’s victorious statements in Moscow a “profound mistake” and accused the General Staff of covering up Russian difficulties and losses on the ground.
As proof that he is serious about the Ukrainian counter-offensive, Putin spoke about the situation on the battlefield several times over the course of several days, without commenting on the situation on the ground for a while.
While many opponents of Russia and anonymous people are in prison for criticizing the conflict in Ukraine, the leader of the Wagner group today openly questioned the reasons for the military intervention.
“The war was necessary for a bunch of bastards to get promoted,” he said.
Prigozhin also accused the Russian oligarchs of pushing the country into war because they need it, while Kyiv, he said, is “ready for any deal.”
Russia invaded Ukraine to “demilitarize and denazify” a neighboring country that was part of the Moscow-led Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) that collapsed in 1991.
Ukraine has relied on weapons provided by its Western allies to counter Russian forces.
The West has also imposed economic sanctions on Russia to reduce its ability to finance military action in Ukraine.
The number of civilian and military casualties from the conflict is unknown, but several sources, including the UN, said it would be high.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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