Founder of PMC Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin has announced the beginning of withdrawal of Wagner units from the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
“We’re withdrawing combat units from Bakhmut. <…> The main forces will be relocated to the camps [for units that are not currently fighting] before 1 June. We will hand over the positions to the military. But if the military finds it too difficult, we will leave those who were principal to capturing Bakhmut [here],” the statement posted on the Telegram channel of Prigozhin’s press service reads. According to him, the mercenaries will receive new orders on 1 June.
On the outskirts of Bakhmut, Wagner units have been replaced with regular troops, however Wagner mercenaries still remain in the city itself, Hanna Maliar, the deputy Defence Minister of Ukraine, says.
According to her, the Russian forces are bringing in additional units on the flanks in the Bakhmut direction, to strengthen the troops. Furthermore, they are conducting artillery shelling to stop Ukraine’s advances on the flanks.
Maliar adds that Ukraine’s Armed Forces are controlling Bakhmut’s outskirts in the Samolet district, in the south-west of the city.
On 20 May, Prigozhin announced the complete capture of Bakhmut. The Ukrainian authorities have not officially confirmed the surrender of the city. According to Prigozhin, the operation to take Bakhmut started on 8 October and lasted 224 days.
On 21 May, Russia’s Defence Ministry reported the capture of Bakhmut, however Ukraine’s General Staff said that the fighting was ongoing. Furthermore, as per TV Rain, news about the Ukrainian forces’ positions in this direction have disappeared from the General Staff bulletins.
