Wagner paramilitary group claims to have Bakhmut surrounded; advises Zelensky to withdraw his troops

The Wagner paramilitary group affirmed yesterday that it has practically surroundedwith the support of Russian troops, the city of Bakhmut, the epicenter of the fighting in eastern Ukraine, with only one road remaining as an open exit for the Ukrainian troops.

Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of Wagner, whose men are on the front line in this conflict, has called on Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky to order his troops to withdraw from Bakhmut, largely destroyed and where both sides have suffered severe casualties.

If before we were faced with a professional Ukrainian army, which was fighting against us, today we see more and more elderly people and children. They fight, but his life in Bakhmut is short, a day or two.Prigozhin warned in a video broadcast on Telegram.

The recording then shows three captured Ukrainians, an elderly man and two young men, who ask Zelensky, in front of the camera, to allow them to go home. From the buildings visible in the video, the Reuters news agency determined that the message was recorded in Paraskoviivka, a town located 7 kilometers north of the center of this city.

Give them a chance to leave the city, it’s practically surroundedurged Prigozhin.

Reuters journalists in western Bakhmut saw Ukrainians digging new trenches for defensive positions, and the commander of a drone unit inside the city for months said he was ordered to withdraw.

The toma de Bakhmut would give Russia one of its major victories in this conflict after a costly winter offensive after it called up hundreds of thousands of reservists last year. The Kremlin has claimed it would be a springboard to capture the surrounding Donbas region, a major war objective.

Russian forces have advanced north and south of Bakhmut in recent weeks, cutting off three of four Ukrainian supply routes to the city. The only way out remains the one that leads, further west, towards Chasiv Yar, to the south of which the Russians are also trying to advance.

On the diplomatic front, the Chinese government reiterated its rejection of the accusations made by the United States about the possibility of supplying weapons to Russia, and insisted that it is Washington that leads throwing lethal weapons on the battlefield since the start of the war a year ago.

We have made our position clear several times in recent days. We are committed to promoting peace talks and working for a political solution to the crisishighlighted the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, at a press conference.

We do not accept coercion or pressure from the United States. What they should be doing is facilitating the de-escalation and promoting peace talks instead of fanning the flame or pointing fingers at other countries.he reiterated.

The spokesman for the National Security Council of the United States, John Kirby, commented in an interview with CNN: We would like to see China join the rest of the world in condemning this invasion and doing nothing to help Russia continue to fight this war. In fact, we would obviously love to see China take steps to help Ukraine in terms of its self-defense..

In the conversation he insisted, as he did the day before, that Washington does not believe that Beijing have taken the matter off the table whether or not to supply weapons to Moscow, although he also does not believe that have made the final decision.

During this day, the US government announced a new consignment of military aid to Ukraine for 400 million dollars, consisting mainly of ammunition for the Himars multiple launch rocket systems, as well as for type armored vehicles. Bradley and other US equipment already supplied, said a statement from the State Department.

Only Russia can end its war today. Until then, and for as long as it takes, we will stand united behind Ukraine to reinforce its army on the ground so that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table.detailed the agency.

Several Western countries have promised President Zelensky to speed up the supply of arsenals to allow his troops to launch a new offensive, basically in the east of the country.

Washington has delivered or promised more than $32 billion worth of miscellaneous weapons to kyiv forces since the start of the Russian offensive on February 24, 2022.