Wagner Group blames Russian Defense Ministry for blocked BakhmutISW campaign

[ad_1]

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian businessman behind the mercenary group fighting for Moscow in Ukraine, describes his failure to make gains at Bakhmut as a failure of the Russian Defense Ministry, the Institute for the Study of war (ISW).

The US think tank said Russian news agency RIA Novosti amplified an interview with Prigozhin, who funds the Wagner Group. He states in the interview that his forces were unable to break through the Ukrainian defenses in the oblast city of Donetsk.

Prigozhin said the group’s efforts stalled due to the strength of Ukraine’s defensive lines, the fortress nature of each house, and the Russians’ need to clear building by building. This contradicted an account he gave in October when he claimed his troops were advancing at up to 200 meters a day.

A Ukrainian BMP infantry fighting vehicle in the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut on December 31, 2022. Mercenary Wagner soldiers fighting alongside Moscow are believed to be stranded in their fight for the town in the Donetsk Oblast. Getty Images/SAMEER AL-DOUMY

“This is a significant inflection for Prigozhin,” the ISW said on Tuesday, noting that it was the first time he presented his strengths “as actually not making any gains” to Bakhmut.

Just last month, Prigozhin claimed that the mercenaries had made gains in the same town effectively without further Russian help.

Known for his close ties to Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin has criticized Russian military failures in Ukraine. The ISW said Prigozhin is likely pushing a narrative in which he can blame the Wagner Group’s failure on the Russian Defense Ministry or Russia’s industrial base.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

The think tank noted the significance of the fact that Wagner Group soldiers told Prigozhin – “during a presumably scripted segment” in the interview – that they were unable to break through the Ukrainian lines at Bakhmut” due to insufficient armored vehicles, ammunition and 100mm shells.”

“This statement is intended to exonerate the Wagner Group and Prigozhin from personal responsibility by attributing their failure to capture Bakhmut to the larger Russian resource allocation issues that Russian and Ukrainian sources have been increasingly discussing since late December,” the statement said. ISW.

The ISW added that on Tuesday Ukrainian troops repelled Russian attacks near Bakhmut itself as well as towns up to 18 km away.

Meanwhile, a Russian milblogger claimed Wagner Group squads were continuing their attempts to push north toward Bakhmut from positions about eight miles southwest and three miles south of the town.

Bakhmut has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid a surprise visit to troops in the city on December 20.

In an article for the Atlantic Council think tank, Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelensky’s office, wrote on Dec. 25 that Bakhmut was a “fortress” where “thousands of Ukrainians are on the front line fighting for freedom.” .

“Their daily struggle is knee-deep in mud and on frozen ground,” he added.

[ad_2]