The founder and head of the Russian private military company (PMC) “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Wednesday that the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut “has already practically destroyed the Ukrainian army”. But at the same time, he admitted that the group also suffered losses.
In response to a journalist’s question about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s promise to protect Bakhmut to the end, Prigozhin said:
“If two forces are fighting today – Ukraine with the collective West on the one hand and Russia with a small number of allies – then the general battle of PMC “Wagner” against the armed forces of Ukraine with foreign units stationed in it, in which PMC “Wagner” will win , it’s the biggest turnaround in this war and in all of modern history.”
In his Telegram voice note, he said that Wagner “destroys foreign forces that try to put Russia on its knees”.
“This is a great twist in the war, because only one Russian army will remain on the chessboard and all other pieces will be removed from it. If PMC “Wagner” dies in the meat grinder in Bakhmut and takes the Armed Forces of Ukraine and forces attached to it with foreign weapons and so on, and enables the Russian military to go further to protect Russia’s interests, then we have fulfilled our historic role, period,” he added.
Prigogine made several visits to Bakhmut and its immediate surroundings in recent weeks.
We remind you that both Ukrainian officials and “Wagner” officials recognize street-by-street fighting in the city.
The Ukrainians claim to have stabilized the situation in Bakhmut.
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