He told propagandist Konstantin Dolgov about this in an interview that came out May 23.
Prigozhin claims that “at the best time” PMC “Wagner” in the Bakhmut area had more than 50 thousand mercenaries, including in the area of 30-35 thousand were “at the same time on the front.”
During the full-scale war, Prigozhin, in his own words, recruited 50,000 prisoners.
“During the” operation “I chose 50 thousand prisoners, of whom about 20% died. Exactly the same number of them died as those who came to us on a contract, not from the zone. Approximately another 20% are those who are wounded and have wounds that make it impossible for up to three months or more to perform combat missions,” he said.
Intense fighting in the Bakhmut region began in July 2022 and continues to this day. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that the Russian Federation threw the most trained units of regular troops and Wagnerians to capture Bakhmut, most of the artillery of the occupiers is concentrated in this direction.
In May 2023, the Russian Federation repeatedly announced the capture of the city, but the Ukrainian military denied these claims. The commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky said on May 21 that Ukrainian troops control an “insignificant part” in Bakhmut itself, but are moving along the flanks to take the city into a tactical encirclement.
Russia did not capture Bakhmut, but it is completely destroyed – there are no surviving buildings, “only land and many dead Russians,” President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stressed on May 21.
According to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov, on May 19, the Russian army is losing killed and wounded near Bakhmut “a battalion a day” and has already lost 70 thousand soldiers.
US President Joe Biden said on May 21 that the aggressor country of the Russian Federation lost more than 100 thousand invaders in the battles for Bakhmut. “It doesn’t matter if it’s occupied or not, there aren’t many buildings left anyway. It’s a badly damaged city. But they [силам обороны Украины] managed to pin down a lot of Russian troops, including the Wagner group,” he said.
According to the Ukrainian military, during these battles, Prigozhin “lost his best personnel.” “In fact, his Wagner grouping has been defeated,” Sergei Cherevaty, spokesman for the eastern grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on May 21.
2023-05-24 11:38:27
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