The commander of the Russian Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in a message on the Telegram application on the night of Thursday-Friday that the control of the city of Bakhmut, where the battles have been concentrated in eastern Ukraine for months, is unlikely in the coming days.
“It is unlikely that Bakhmut will be completely taken tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” Prigozhin said, referring to heavy fighting on the city’s southwestern outskirts.
“We haven’t taken Bakhmut yet,” he added, explaining that “there is a suburb called Samolit, and it looks like an impregnable fortress consisting of rows of buildings that form a dam (…) and the most difficult battles are taking place there currently.”
“Therefore, there is an important request: Happiness loves silence … Let’s finish our work,” Prigozhin continued.
On Tuesday, Ukraine announced that it had taken control of more than twenty square kilometers on the outskirts of Bakhmut, but at the same time admitted that Russian forces were continuing their advance in the city itself, which had been destroyed by months-long battles.
The battle for this city in Donbass is the fiercest and longest since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
