1 of 1 Prigozhin made the announcement in a video posted on Telegram Photo: CONCORD/Portal PRESS SERVICE Prigozhin made the announcement in a video posted on Telegram Photo: CONCORD/Portal PRESS SERVICE
The head of the Russian Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, confirmed this Thursday (May 25) that his units had begun withdrawing from the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and that their positions were being handed over to Russian army troops.
“We are withdrawing very cautiously,” Prigozhin said in a video published on his Telegram channel.
Five days ago, when the Wagner leader announced the complete capture of Bakhmut after almost ten months of fighting, he declared that his troops, having completed their mission, would withdraw to training camps in the rear areas as of this Thursday.
“We handed over the positions, ammunition and even food to the military,” he explained.
According to him, two experienced Wagner fighters will remain in Bakhmut to support the Russian army. The transfer must be completed by June 1st.
“We will rest, prepare, and then receive another mission,” Prigozhin explained.
The Ukrainian government confirmed the exchange of positions of enemy forces. Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Malyar said that Wagner Group troops in the suburbs of Bakhmut would be replaced by regular Russian soldiers. Moscow has not commented on the matter.
Ukraine rejects Moscow’s version that the city is under full Russian control. According to Maljar, the Ukrainian armed forces currently control the southwestern suburbs of Bakhmut.
prisoners released
Also on Thursday, Ukraine announced the release of 106 Ukrainian soldiers captured defending Bakhmut.
“Among those who have returned from captivity, there are some who have been reported missing,” said Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential office in charge of negotiations with Russia on the exchange of prisoners of war.
Yermak described all those released as heroes eight officers and 98 soldiers and NCOs and reiterated that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government is working to free all Ukrainian hostages from Russia.
“Every exchange brings us closer to this goal,” he said.
tens of thousands dead
Although the Battle of Bakhmut was not considered a strategic city, it acquired symbolic importance for both Ukrainians and Russians, who lost large numbers of soldiers in almost ten months.
Bakhmut is currently the epicenter of fighting between Russia and Ukraine; Pictures show destruction
The Wagner leader admitted to having about 50,000 men stationed in Russian prisons and put the death toll on the Ukrainian side at between 50,000 and 70,000.
The United States estimated Russian casualties at the Battle of Bakhmut at nearly 100,000.
Prigozhin’s reviews
The bloody campaign in Bakhmut also revealed deep tensions between Prigozhin and the Russian Defense Ministry, which he repeatedly accused of not supplying sufficient arms and ammunition and allowing regular units to escape from positions occupied by the paramilitary group.
“In Bakhmut we not only fought against the Ukrainian army, but also against the Russian bureaucracy, which threw a spanner in the works for us. I’m referring primarily to bureaucrats who are close to military circles,” said the Wagner boss on the weekend after the announcement of the intake of Bachmut.
The head of the Wagner group further stated that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov “turned this war into personal entertainment” and that their “freaks” caused a large number of casualties for the paramilitary group.