Wednesday, March 29, 2023

A bit of good news from Ukraine

Ukraine updates: Bakhmut battle 'badly damaged' Wagner group

3 hours ago

The leader of the Wagner mercenary group says his forces have suffered heavy losses in Bakhmut. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy extended an invitation to Russian ally Xi Jinping to visit Kyiv. DW has the latest.


Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the infamous mercenary force known as the Wagner Group, said on Wednesday that his forces and their equipment have been "badly damaged" in the months-long campaign for control of the small but strategically important city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

"The battle for Bakhmut today has already practically destroyed the Ukrainian army, and unfortunately, it has also badly damaged the Wagner Private Military Company," he said in an audio message, according to Reuters news agency.

According to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Wagner forces now control the majority of the city.

"ISW assesses that Russian forces have advanced into an additional five percent of Bakhmut in the last seven days and that they currently occupy roughly 65 percent of the city," they wrote in a report.

Their gains include the city's main market area and Wagner troops are swiftly advancing on the city center, the think tank said.


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