The Russian military on Thursday evening denied any “breakthrough” in its defenses by Ukrainian forces in the Bakhmoud region, the heart of fighting in eastern Ukraine. Pro-Russian bloggers and the boss of the paramilitary group Wagner worried about that.
Several pro-Russian military bloggers reported the situation on the ground following Ukrainian troop movements and Russian soldiers abandoning positions.
“Reports of alleged ‘security developments’ in various areas of communication broadcast by individual Telegram channels do not correspond to reality,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
He promised in his daily briefing that he had foiled some Ukrainian attacks and reconnaissance operations on the front.
According to the Russian ministry, at the end of the evening the only combat that took place near Malinivka in the Donetsk region involved aircraft and artillery.
Retreat of the Russian soldiers
However, the ministry did not address reports of a Russian retreat near Bagmouth, saying only that “attack units continue to liberate the western part” of the town, where the last pockets are located. Ukrainians. “The overall situation in the special military operation area is under control,” he said. These claims were not immediately verified by an independent source.
Wagner’s boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose men are on the front lines of the battle for Bagmouth, has been reporting for three days as Russian soldiers retreat to the city’s edges in the face of Ukrainian attacks, his role has confirmed. By a senior official in Kiev.
On Thursday, Mr. Prigozhin said the Ukrainian military had sent Western-trained and Western-armed units to the area, which Kyiv had kept in reserve for a much-anticipated counterattack.
“Territories captured by the blood and lives of our comrades in arms for months […] Today, practically without a fight, our sides were abandoned by those who were supposed to hold them,” he said in an audio message to the regular Russian army on a bike.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised in an interview with the BBC on Thursday that his troops needed more time before launching a major counteroffensive aimed at pushing Russian forces back from areas they occupied.
This article was published automatically. Sources: ats / afp