Wagner fighters have been trying to conquer the city of Bakhmut for months. The chief of the troops is now warning Moscow of a planned Ukrainian offensive.
In the Ukraine, the fighting for the city of Bakhmut, which is considered strategic, continues unabated. But for the Russian Wagner mercenaries, a new challenge seems to lie ahead in the eastern Donetsk region. The head of the private army, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on Monday published a letter to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu asking for reinforcements.
In it, Prigozhin said that according to his information, the Ukrainian armed forces were planning a large-scale offensive in late March or early April. The aim is to cut off the Wagner troops from the Russian forces. Schoigu should urgently take the necessary steps to prevent this.
Otherwise, Prigozhin warned that there would be “negative consequences” for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Currently, the Wagner units control around 70 percent of Bachmut and continue their attacks until full liberation,” he said. In his letter to Shoigu, he also included information on the formation of the Ukrainian armed forces, which was not published.
Apparently, the Russian army has not been active in Bakhmut so far
According to Prigozhin, the Wagner troops are the only Russian units fighting in Bakhmut. The Russian army is therefore active on other front sections in the Donetsk region.
In Ukraine, on the other hand, there is confidence that they will be able to defend Bakhmut. 70,000 people used to live there, and thousands are still staying there. For two months now, the armed forces have withstood the most severe enemy attacks, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar said in Kiev. Many would have believed that the defense would not last more than a week or two at the most. The generals and officers not only managed to defend Bakhmut, she said their reserves were not yet exhausted.
City of great symbolism
Bakhmut has been fought over since late summer, and over the past two months the fighting has turned into the bloodiest battle in the Russian war of aggression that has been going on for more than a year. The city is the main part of the line of defense between the cities of Siversk and Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, established after the Russian conquest of Sieverodonetsk and Lysychansk.
Should the city fall, the route to the major cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk would open up for Russian troops. This would bring a complete conquest of the Donetsk region closer.
