C T Online Desk: The head of Russian paramilitary group Wagner said Saturday his fighters were near the centre of Bakhmut as a top Ukrainian commander insisted it was important to “buy time” ahead of an upcoming counteroffensive.
British intelligence said in an update the frontline had shifted in the fight for Bakhmut, the longest and bloodiest battle of Moscow’s one-year invasion — but that any further Russian advance in the devastated town could be “highly challenging”.
Some military experts have questioned the sense of the continued fight for Bakhmut, but Ukrainian officials say that the town’s fall could lead to further Russian advances in the east.
In a video released on Saturday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of Russian mercenary group Wagner, said that his forces were close to the administrative centre of Bakhmut.
Standing on the rooftop of a high-rise building in what is said to be Bakhmut, Prigozhin is seen pointing towards a building in the distance.
“This is the building of the town administration, this is the centre of the town,” he said.
“It is one kilometre and two hundred metres away,” said Prigozhin, who was clad in full military gear.
Speaking as artillery boomed in the background, Prigozhin said the most important thing now was to receive more ammunition from the army and “move forward”.
Wagner has been spearheading offensives against cities in eastern Ukraine including Bakhmut. Both sides have suffered heavy losses.
Earlier this week Wagner said its fighters had captured the eastern part of Bakhmut.
– A ‘killing zone’ –
The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, said on Saturday the fight for Bakhmut helped win time in preparation for a future counteroffensive.
“The real heroes now are the defenders who are holding the eastern front on their shoulders, and inflicting the heaviest possible losses, sparing neither themselves nor the enemy,” Syrsky was quoted as saying in a statement.
“It is necessary to buy time to build reserves and launch a counteroffensive, which is not far off.”
