20,000 Wagner troopers died in Bakhmut preventing, chief says
Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin stated he misplaced 20,000 of his fighters within the battle for Bakhmut, highlighting the immense value Russia paid to seize the destroyed metropolis in jap Ukraine.
Prigozhin stated in a brand new interview with a outstanding Russian blogger that of the tens of hundreds of convicts his non-public navy firm recruited from Russian prisons to combat in Bakhmut, about 20 % of them died within the battle.
Of the overall losses, 50 % have been workers of Wagner Group, and the opposite half have been prisoners, in response to Prigozhin.
The Wagner Group chief additionally informed Konstantin Dolgov, a pro-Kremlin Russian blogger, in a video interview printed Tuesday that Ukraine had a powerful military.
“I can say from my very own expertise, we now have fought in lots of locations with many individuals,” Prigozhin stated. “At this time, the Ukrainians are one of many strongest armies. They’ve a prime degree of group, excessive ranges of coaching and nice intelligence.”
The Wagner chief’s loss estimate is a stark distinction to Russia’s official demise toll of a bit of greater than 6,000 troopers misplaced within the warfare in Ukraine to this point.
However Prigozhin’s figures largely match as much as an estimate from U.S. officers, who assessed Russia has suffered 100,000 casualties in Bakhmut, together with 20,000 deaths.
Of these deaths, about half have been attributed to the Wagner Group, stated White Home nationwide safety spokesperson John Kirby earlier this month.
Wagner Group fought for round 9 months in Bakhmut till Russia claimed victory within the metropolis over the weekend.
To take the town from Ukraine’s defenses, the mercenary troopers utilized a tactic of strain, together with throwing waves of convicts at Ukrainian traces.
The battle has left Wagner Group and the Russian navy weaker and exhausted, with Prigozhin saying his troops would withdraw for now to regroup and resupply.
Ukraine has denied dropping the town of Bakhmut, and its floor forces commander says troops are positioned within the outskirts of the town and are poised to retake it when afforded the chance.
Kyiv is making ready to launch a long-anticipated counteroffensive to retake territory in jap Ukraine.
Prigozhin stated within the Tuesday interview that Ukraine’s coming counteroffensive might see Russian forces pushed out of jap Ukraine.
Affiliate editor Steff Danielle Thomas contributed.
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