Wagner to leave Bakhmut by June 1, transfer control to Russian army
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Footage released by the Ukrainian armed forces showing the destruction in Bakhmut, Ukraine.
PHOTO: AFP
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MOSCOW - The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said on Monday his fighters would leave Bakhmut by June 1 and transfer control to the Russian army, after claiming to have captured the city.
Both Wagner and the regular Russian army have said Bakhmut had fallen to them but Kyiv denies this, saying it is hanging on to a corner of the eastern Ukrainian city and that battles are ongoing.
“Wagner will leave Artemovsk from May 25 to June 1,” Mr Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio recording on Telegram. Bakhmut was previously known as Artemovsk, in honour of a Soviet revolutionary, before Ukraine renamed it.
Mr Prigozhin said the mercenaries had set up “defence lines” on the western outskirts of the city before a planned transfer of control to the Russian army.
“If the Ministry of Defence does not have enough personnel, we have thousands of generals,” said Mr Prigozhin, who has been embroiled in an increasingly public spat with Russia’s military leaders.
Mr Prigozhin has poured scathing criticism
Wagner fighters have spearheaded Russia’s storming of Bakhmut and Mr Prigozhin’s influence has risen hugely during Moscow’s Ukraine offensive.
On Saturday, he announced that Bakhmut had fallen to his fighters,
He said then that Wagner fighters would pull out by May 25.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Wagner and the Russian army on the alleged conquest.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the Group of Seven summit on Sunday that Bakhmut was “not occupied” by Russia.
Ukraine on Monday said its troops were still advancing on the flanks of Bakhmut, although the “intensity” of their movement had decreased and Russia was bringing in more forces.
Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar reiterated that Ukraine had a small foothold inside the city itself.
“Through our movement on the flanks – to the north and south – we manage to destroy the enemy,” she said in televised comments. “By moving along the flanks and occupying certain heights there, our armed forces have made it very difficult for the enemy to stay in the city itself.”
“We are still advancing, but the intensity is somewhat reduced. If we talk about the north, there is much less active action there. If we talk about the south, we are advancing and the defence of Bakhmut as a city has completely fulfilled its military objective.”
Reuters was unable to verify the situation on the battlefield. AFP, REUTERS
