Ukraine advisor says Wagner threat to withdraw could be ‘fake’
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An advisor to the Ukrainian defence ministry on Friday said that Wagner Group is intensifying its attacks on Ukraine’s Bakhmut, despite the chief of the mercenary group raging against Russian generals.
“Our military reports show that as things stand, Wagner Group is only intensifying its attacks,” Yuriy Sak, an advisor to Ukraine’s defence minister, told Rudaw in a televised interview.
On Friday, Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin accused the Russian military of starving his forces of ammunition, leading to high casualties, and threatened to withdraw from Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine that Russia has been trying to capture for months.
“They are bringing in more reinforcements, so this whole statement could be fake,” said Sak, adding that Bakhmut is currently the fiercest war front.
“Bakhmut is becoming a black hole for the Russian army. They are losing on average 100-150 soldiers in action, killed on a daily basis,” he said, claiming that Ukraine has killed 20,000 Russian soldiers since December and nearly 200,000 since the start of the war.
Sak called Wagner a terrorist group of the calibre of the Islamic State (ISIS) and said that Kyiv is documenting every incident of what he called atrocities Wagner has committed against the Ukrainian people.
“We are using all our diplomatic channels to convince our allies to recognise Wagner as a terrorist group,” he said.
Russia’s war on Ukraine is stepping into its fifteenth month. The conflict has contributed to a global increase in food, oil, and petrol prices.
“Our military reports show that as things stand, Wagner Group is only intensifying its attacks,” Yuriy Sak, an advisor to Ukraine’s defence minister, told Rudaw in a televised interview.
On Friday, Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin accused the Russian military of starving his forces of ammunition, leading to high casualties, and threatened to withdraw from Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine that Russia has been trying to capture for months.
“They are bringing in more reinforcements, so this whole statement could be fake,” said Sak, adding that Bakhmut is currently the fiercest war front.
“Bakhmut is becoming a black hole for the Russian army. They are losing on average 100-150 soldiers in action, killed on a daily basis,” he said, claiming that Ukraine has killed 20,000 Russian soldiers since December and nearly 200,000 since the start of the war.
Sak called Wagner a terrorist group of the calibre of the Islamic State (ISIS) and said that Kyiv is documenting every incident of what he called atrocities Wagner has committed against the Ukrainian people.
“We are using all our diplomatic channels to convince our allies to recognise Wagner as a terrorist group,” he said.
Russia’s war on Ukraine is stepping into its fifteenth month. The conflict has contributed to a global increase in food, oil, and petrol prices.