Wagner

The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, published a video in which he claims to know about the Ukrainian plan, the aim of which is to "strike three blows".
At the same time, he states that Ukraine has grouped 200,000 soldiers in Donbas, out of which 80,000 are near Bakhmut.

Fierce fighting was raging Monday for control of the centre of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the bloodiest battle of Moscow's invasion, as Russia agreed to a short extension of a crucial UN-backed grain export deal.

The Ukrainian military was preparing Sunday for an upcoming counteroffensive, with a top commander saying his forces' ongoing defence of Bakhmut in the face of fierce and sustained Russian attacks was necessary to "buy time" for that push.

The Russian army vowed on Tuesday to capture the east Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, a move President Volodymyr Zelensky said would give Moscow an "open road" for offensives deeper into his country.

The founder and leader of the Russian mercenary group "Wagner", Yevgeny Prigozhin, addressed the public via social networks, sending a message that they were "squeezed" by Ukrainian troops.

Russia said on Jan. 13 its forces had wrested control of the war-scarred town of Soledar in east Ukraine, its first claim of victory in months of battlefield setbacks, but Ukraine said fierce fighting was still under way.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed that Ukrainian forces defending Bakhmut and Soledar in the east will be armed with everything they need to keep Russian troops at bay in some of the bloodiest battles of the war.

The head of Russia's mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said early Wednesday his fighters had taken control of Ukraine's city of Soledar after intense fighting this week, but said some "urban battles" continued.

The private military company "Wagner" alone attacked the Ukrainian city of Soledar and is "close" to capturing it. These words of the head of "Wagner" Yevgeny Prigozhin were distributed by his company "Concord" in response to a question to him from Russian media.