Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Russia’s Wagner claims Bakhmut, Kyiv says situation critical

Russia’s Wagner claims Bakhmut, Kyiv says situation critical

Russia’s Wagner private army claimed on Saturday to have finally captured the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after the longest and bloodiest battle of the war, while Kyiv denied the city had fallen though it called the situation there critical.
If confirmed, the announcement by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin that his troops had finally pushed the Ukrainians out of the last built-up area inside the city would amount to claiming Moscow’s first big prize for more than 10 months.

But any sense of victory for Russia appears likely to be fleeting. The announcement comes after a week in which Ukrainian forces have made their most rapid gains for six months on Bakhmut’s northern and southern flanks, which Prigozhin has said put his troops inside the city at risk of encirclement.

Prigozhin, who has repeatedly denounced Russia’s regular military for abandoning ground captured earlier by his men, said his own forces would now pull out of Bakhmut in five days to rest, handing the ruins of the city over to the regular military.

“Today, at 12 noon, Bakhmut was completely taken,” Prigozhin said in a video in which he appeared in combat fatigues in front of a line of fighters holding Russian flags and Wagner banners. “We completely took the whole city, from house to house.”

Ukrainian military spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi told Reuters: “This is not true. Our units are fighting in Bakhmut.”

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported “heavy fighting in Bakhmut. The situation is critical,” she said on the Telegram messaging service.

“As of now, our defenders control some industrial and infrastructure facilities in the area and the private sector.”

‘RATS INTO A MOUSETRAP’

Whether the Ukrainian forces have left Bakhmut or not, they have been slowly pulling back inside it, to clusters of buildings on the city’s western edge.

But meanwhile, to the north and south, they have made their most rapid gains for six months in the surrounding area, seizing swathes of territory from Russian troops.

Russia has acknowledged losing some ground around Bakhmut in the past week, while denying assertions by Prigozhin that the flanks around the city guarded by regular troops have collapsed.

Kyiv says its aim in Bakhmut has been to draw Russian forces from elsewhere on the front into the city, to inflict high casualties there and weaken Moscow’s defensive line elsewhere ahead of a planned major counteroffensive.

“Wagner troops climbed into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap,” Oleksander Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, told troops at the Bakhmut front this week.

British defense intelligence said on Saturday Moscow appeared to be doubling down on the battle around Bakhmut, moving more troops there even though they were in short supply elsewhere. It was highly likely that Russia had deployed up to several battalions of scarce reserves to reinforce the Bakhmut sector, it said on Twitter.

The battle for Bakhmut has revealed a deepening split between Wagner, a mercenary force that has recruited thousands of convicts from Russian prisons, and the regular Russian military. For two weeks, Prigozhin has been issuing daily video and audio messages denouncing Russia’s military leadership, often in expletive-laden rants.

In Saturday’s video he said that because of the “whims” of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, “five times more guys died than they should have.” He thanked President Vladimir Putin “that he gave us this chance and great honor to defend our motherland.”

Moscow has long claimed that capturing Bakhmut would be a stepping stone toward advancing deeper into the Donbas region it claims to have annexed from Ukraine. It has made it the principal target of a massive winter and spring offensive that failed to capture any significant ground elsewhere.

But Prigozhin has acknowledged that Bakhmut, a city of 70,000 people before the war, has little strategic significance, despite its huge symbolic importance because of the scale of losses in Europe’s bloodiest ground battle since World War Two.

The grinding battle is reaching a climax just as Kyiv is preparing its counteroffensive, the next major phase in the war after six months during which it had kept its forces back on the defensive while weathering Russia’s big offensive.

President Volodymyr Zelensky attended the G7 summit of major industrial powers in Japan on Saturday, winning pledges of support including a signal from Washington that it would now back the training of Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 warplanes. Previously, sending combat aircraft had been a taboo.

For Zelensky, who left Ukraine for the first time following the invasion only last December, the summit demonstrated a new-found confidence in traveling the world to make his case in person. On his way to Japan he stopped at an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia, just a week after a European tour to Rome, Berlin, Paris and London.

It provided a marked contrast with Putin, who has traveled outside the former Soviet Union only once since ordering the invasion — a day trip to Tehran last July.

Putin’s standing invitation to G7 summits once made it the G8 until he was kicked out after an earlier smaller-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2014. He is now wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for suspected war crimes, and was notably absent at a summit of former Soviet Central Asian states in China this week.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China do not pay these tariffs - you pay it. This is new 145% tax you pay to the US government.
Cultural Battles in the Vatican: The Candidates in the Battle for the Holy See and Pope Francis's Testament
Global Leaders Pay Tribute to Pope Francis Following His Death
Wild Chimpanzees Observed Bonding Over Alcoholic Fruit
Greek Christians Celebrate Easter in Thessaloníki
US Federal Reserve Chair Issues Warning on Tariff Impact
China, China, China!
Pope Francis Makes Brief Appearance at Easter Sunday Mass
Saudi Arabia Offers Max Verstappen Unprecedented Deal to Join Aston Martin
Global Pistachio Shortage Amid Rising Demand for 'Dubai Chocolate'
Trump is assembling a coalition of Western leaders aligned with the MAGA vision, strengthening a unified front for global change
IMF Predicts No Global Recession Amid Trade Tensions
Alphabet Faces Antitrust Setbacks as Federal Judges Rule Against Google
US Billionaires Call for Higher Taxes, but Proposed 'Millionaires Tax' May Not Achieve Desired Outcome
This is Vienna, Austria in 2025.
Designed in US, made in China: Why Apple is stuck in tariff tussle
Boeing Jet Returns to US from China Amid Tariff War
US Sets Deadline for Russia-Ukraine Peace Deal Brokerage
Italy Introduces 'Sex Rooms' in Prisons for Inmates
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Meets with Donald Trump to Discuss EU-US Trade Tensions
South East Asia Caught in US-China Trade Dispute
Ukraine and US Sign Outline of Minerals Deal
U.S. and Panama Finalize Defense Agreements Amid Canal Access and Chinese Influence Concerns
China Stands Firm Amidst Trade Disputes with the US: A Factual Analysis
U.S. Tariff Escalation Sparks Global Trade Tensions
EU Postpones Retaliatory Measures Against US Tariffs
Alisha Lehmann's Modeling Campaign and Public Controversy Stir Debate Ahead of UEFA Women's Euro
Global Responses to U.S. Tariffs: Varied Reactions from Key Economies
Europe Pursues Digital Autonomy in Light of Transatlantic Strains
OpenAI Secures Unprecedented $40 Billion Funding
Apple's Innovation Divide: Falling Behind in AI and Foldable Technology Amidst Progress from China
Passenger Taken into Custody for Masturbating on SWISS Air Flight
PUTIN’S LIMOUSINE DETONATES—SECURITY CHAOS ENSUES
OpenAI Unveils New Image Generation Tool for ChatGPT
Ex-FIFA President and French Football Icon Acquitted of Corruption Accusations
American Brands Face Consumer Boycott in Europe Amid Escalating Trade and Political Tensions
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has just signed off on a national debt hike to fast-track Germany’s militarization
Pope Francis Makes His First Public Appearance in Five Weeks After Being Hospitalized
Pope Francis Released from Hospital Following Pneumonia Treatment
European Countries Boost Defense Budgets Due to Changes in U.S. Support
Pope Francis Set to Leave Hospital Following Recovery from Pneumonia
Thousands Rally in Amsterdam to Oppose Racism and Fascism
Revealing the Electromagnetic Characteristics of the Great Pyramid of Giza
The Development of China's Automobile Sector
Netanyahu Dismisses Shin Bet Chief Amid 'Loss of Trust' and 'Qatargate' Corruption Investigations Involving Netanyahu's Advisors
Leaders of the US and Ukraine Hold Constructive Discussion Amid Ongoing Conflict
EU Charges US Tech Giants with Violating Digital Regulations
Serbia's authoritarian government uses illegal sonic weapons against peaceful demonstrators.
European Union Moves Toward Joint Debt for Military Spending
Mass Protests in Belgrade Against Serbian President and Government
×