Wagner Group cedes Bakhmut to Russia and warns that Ukraine’s army has become one of the most powerful in the world

The Russian paramilitary group Wagner began, this Thursday, the 25th, the process of transferring its positions in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut to the army of the Russia. The site has been the epicenter of the conflict for months now, which is heading into its second year. “Today we are withdrawing units from Bakhmut. By June 1, most will be transferred to rear bases,” said Wagner group founder Yevgueni Prigozhin in a video released by his communications office. “We are handing over the positions to the military, the ammunition and everything in them. We withdraw, we are going to rest, prepare and we will receive further instructions, ”he added. The group claims to have conquered the region, which Ukraine deny. In counterpoint to his statements, the Wagner group said, in an interview with Russian military blogger Konstantin Dolgov, that Moscow’s attempt to destabilize Kiev made enemy forces one of the ‘most powerful in the world’. He described the Ukrainian army as forces with “a high level of organizational skills, a high level of training and a high level of intelligence”, adding “they have different types of weapons and, what is more important, they can work with ease and success with all systems: Soviet, NATO systems… you name it”.

The transfer comes at a time when the Russian army is struggling on Bakhmut’s flanks. According to Kiev, Moscow troops lost 20 square kilometers north and south of the city to Ukrainian forces. The group’s founder Wagner claims that nearly 10,000 of the 50,000 inmates recruited from Russian prisons have died in Ukraine and that a similar number of the group’s professional fighters have also died in the fighting. “I selected 50,000 detainees, of whom 20% died,” he said, but noted that his group’s casualty toll was three times lower than that of Ukrainian forces. The same is repeated in relation to the wounded, which he says has twice as many. This transfer process also comes after an incursion by fighters from Ukraine on Monday and Tuesday in the Russian border region of Belgorod, which Moscow took more than 24 hours to counterattack, which once again demonstrated the difficulties of the Russian forces.

Ganna Maliar, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister, confirmed that the Wagner group troops had ceded positions to official Russian troops “on the outskirts of Bakhmut”. “Wagner group units remain in the city of Bakhmut,” Maliar said, before reporting that Ukrainian soldiers still control an area of ​​the southwestern suburb of Bakhmut. The industrial city, scene of the most violent and prolonged battle of the Russian offensive, had 70,000 inhabitants before the conflict. Ukraine hopes to continue its advance along the shores of Bakhmut with the aim of establishing a “tactical encirclement” of the city. “The enemy tries to stop our advance on the flanks with artillery fire. It is reinforcing the flanks with more units,” stated Maliar.

Also on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of continuing to “terrorize” Ukraine and said the country’s army shot down 36 Russian drones during night strikes. “The enemy intended to hit crucial infrastructure and military areas in the south of the country,” he said. At the same time, pro-Moscow authorities on the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, claimed they shot down six Ukrainian drones overnight. In the diplomatic sphere, Russia announced that the Chinese emissary Li Hui, sent by Beijing to the European continent to discuss a political solution to the conflict in Ukraine, will visit Moscow on Friday for “consultations”.