The head of the private military company “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin published this morning a video appeal to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, asking him to allow the elderly and children to leave the city. Bakhmut is practically surrounded, there is only one road left, Prigozhin states in the video, which shows him in full combat gear, with a uniform, bulletproof vest and helmet, apparently guarded behind him. The video message was published on Friday by the press service of his Telegram channel.
“I am addressing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Oleksandrovich Zelenskyi… If before we had a professional Ukrainian army fighting with us, today we see more and more old people and children. They fight, but their life near Bakhmut is short – a day or two. Give them a chance to leave the city,” says Prigozhin.
Then the camera pans to the side where three people are standing – two young men, more like school-age boys, and an elderly man asking Zelensky to hear Prigozhin’s appeal.
And Ukrainian media spread information about Prigozhin’s video. It denies that the citizens are Ukrainian prisoners of war, and the video is defined as a staging.
This morning in an interview for RBC-Ukraine, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov states that the Russian army has thrown all his forces to storm Bakhmut, as he wishes to report the capture of the city as soon as possible. Therefore, both regular troops and mercenaries are present in the area, but they cannot do anything – “however, the pace of the offensive does not meet expectations”.
Bakhmut is not just a geographical point on the country’s map, we know how to proceed, asserts Danilov, admitting that the situation is difficult and difficult.
However, the Secretary of the Council emphasizes that even bad news from Bakhmut will not be hidden from society.
