Wagner group signals it will stay in Bakhmut after Prigozhin threatened to pull forces

On Sunday, Russia’s Wagner mercenary squad said they had been promised more guns by Moscow and may continue their attack on Bakhmut, which Russia sees as a stepping stone to other Donbas cities.

Ukrainian and Russian media reported explosions in Russian-occupied Crimea, and Russia’s defence ministry announced its air defenses had identified and destroyed 22 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea overnight.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin announced on Friday that his fighters, who had led a months-long assault on Bakhmut, would withdraw due to ammunition shortages and “useless and unjustified” fatalities.

“We have been promised as much ammunition and weapons as we need to continue further operations,” he stated in an audio message on his Telegram account on Sunday. “We have been promised that everything needed to prevent the enemy from cutting us off (from supplies) will be deployed.”

After Prigozhin’s recent declaration, Russia’s defence ministry did not comment.

Russian officials have often denied that their frontline units are undersupplied. On Tuesday, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu stated the Russian army as a whole has “received the sufficient amount of ammunition” to damage enemy forces.

Ukrainian eastern command spokesman Serhiy Cherevaty told Reuters that Russian soldiers have “more than enough” ammunition in response to Prigozhin’s comments.

Prigozhin’s remarks are meant to deflect attention from Wagner’s terrible losses.

“Four hundred eighty-nine artillery strikes in 24 hours around Bakhmut – is that an ammunition hunger?”

Prigozhin’s threat to leave Bakhmut shows the pressure Russian soldiers are under as Ukraine prepares a counteroffensive with thousands of Western-donated armoured vehicles and newly trained troops.

The months-long battle for Bakhmut has claimed thousands of lives on both sides.

Ukrainian troops have been driven back in recent weeks but have clung on in the city to inflict as many Russian losses as possible before Kyiv’s anticipated big assault against the invading forces along the 1,000-km (620-mile) front line. EVACUATION
On Sunday, the Ukrainian military said Russian forces were evacuating inhabitants from the town serving the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility in southern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s General Staff said in the morning that Russian soldiers were evacuating local Russian passport-holders to Berdyansk and Prymorsk on the Sea of Azov.

Governor Vitaliy Kim of Mykolaiv posted on social media that Russian long-range bombers hit his southern province with five Kh-22 cruise missiles overnight, damaging a structure and terrain belonging to an undisclosed firm.

On Sunday morning, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat told local television that six of those missiles had been fired at Ukraine overnight but had missed.

Governor Oleh Synyehubov claimed an S-300 missile hit a car park in Balakliya, eastern Kharkiv, injuring at least five persons.

Recent Russian long-range missile strikes against civilian and infrastructure targets have increased.

Russian-occupied Crimea was rocked by multiple explosions overnight.

Baza, a Telegram group linked to Russia’s law enforcement, stated that Ukraine dispatched several drones over the peninsula, with Russian air defense shooting down at least one over Sevastopol.

The reports were unverified by Reuters.

Over the previous two weeks, Russian-held sites have been targeted, mainly in Crimea. Ukraine claims demolishing enemy infrastructure is preparation for a ground invasion, but denies involvement.

Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said six people were killed in several strikes over the past 24 hours in Kherson, which Ukraine recaptured last November but has been under continual Russian attack.