Prigozhin: The forces of the Wagner Group are handing over control of Bakhmut to Moscow

2023-05-25 18:10:24, Kosova & Bota CNA

Prigozhin: The forces of the Wagner Group are handing over control of Bakhmut to

The head of Russia's private military group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Thursday that his forces had begun to withdraw from Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine and hand over control of the city to the Russian military, days after he said his troops had captured it. .

The group's millionaire owner, who has strong ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in a video posted on Telegram that the handover would be completed by June 1.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has not commented.

It was not possible to independently verify whether the retreat of the Wagner group from the bombed city has begun, after a nine-month battle that left thousands dead.

Ukraine's deputy defense minister said Thursday that units of the Wagner group have been replaced by army troops on the outskirts, but the group's fighters remain inside the city.

Ukrainian forces still have a base in the southwestern suburbs, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said.

The triumph of the private group Wagner gave a much-needed victory to President Putin, while Russian aggression has met with stiff resistance and now faces the possibility of a Ukrainian counter-offensive with advanced weapons sent by Kiev's Western allies.

Senior Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Thursday that Ukraine's counteroffensive has begun, but warned that it will not be "a single action" starting "at a certain hour of a certain day."

He said on Twitter that the Ukrainian army is carrying out and will continue to carry out "dozens of different actions to destroy the Russian occupation forces".

Yevgeny Prigozhin has a history of clashes with the Russian military leadership, dating back to the creation of the Wagner group. He has also developed a reputation for provocative and often unverifiable statements, which he later retracts.

During the 15-month war in Ukraine, he has repeatedly and publicly criticized Russia's military leaders, accusing them of incompetence and failure to support his troops as they led the battle for Bakhmut.

He has said the Kremlin's aim to demilitarize Ukraine has failed, admitted Russian troops have killed civilians and confirmed Western estimates that his group has lost more than 20,000 fighters in the battle for Bakhmut.

Meanwhile, Russia launched a barrage of Iranian-made Shahed 36 drones against Kiev in the 12th overnight airstrike on the Ukrainian capital this month, but the city's air defenses shot them all down, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday.

Kremlin forces also launched 30 airstrikes and 39 multiple rocket attacks, as well as artillery and mortar attacks across Ukraine, the Ukrainian military said.

At least one civilian was killed and 13 others were wounded in Ukraine on Wednesday and overnight, the Ukrainian president's office said Thursday. / VOA