The battle for this Ukrainian city has been the epicenter of fighting since the summer between Ukrainian forces and the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, which is demanding more ammunition from Moscow.
The head of Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Monday that “fierce” fighting continued in Bachmout in eastern Ukraine, suggesting his troops are being given more ammunition after threatening to withdraw.
Yevgeny Prigoyine, who has been in open conflict with Russia’s military hierarchy for months, had pledged on Friday to withdraw his frontline fighters in that Ukrainian city that Russian forces have been attacking since last August if they stop receiving ammunition from the army Army. On Sunday he then announced that he had “received the promise” to take care of his men.
“According to the first information, we are gradually getting ammunition,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio recording broadcast by his press service on Telegram.
Longest battle of the conflict
According to him, last day Russian forces advanced 130 meters into Bakhmout, a town in eastern Ukraine that has been an epicenter of fighting since the summer and has now been largely destroyed.
“The fighting (in Bakhmout) is fierce. The groups are advancing and will keep advancing,” he added, saying that Ukrainian troops now control only 2.36 square kilometers of the city.
For its part, the Ukrainian General Staff merely reported that “hostilities continue in the town of Bachmout” amid the “unsuccessful offensive” of Russian troops.
The Battle of Bakhmout, the longest of the conflict, saw heavy casualties on both sides, despite the city’s disputed strategic importance. According to its own statements, Ukraine has been preparing a major counter-offensive for months, which seems to be getting closer and may even be underway.