Wagner chief says Ukraine’s Bakhmut ‘practically surrounded’

The head of Russian mercenary group Wagner says his forces have “practically encircled” the crucial city of Bakhmut.

The head of Russian mercenary group Wagner said on Friday his forces had “practically encircled” Bakhmut, an industrial city in eastern Ukraine that has seen the fiercest fighting of Moscow’s invasion.

The Kremlin meanwhile warned the West against providing more arms to Ukraine, as key Kyiv backers President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were set to meet in Washington.

Ukraine has said it will defend “fortress Bakhmut” for as long as possible but this week officials said the situation was becoming increasingly difficult.

Russia is determined to seize Bakhmut — a now-destroyed city once known for its sparkling wine — as part of its wider aim of capturing the entire Donetsk region.

⚡️Wagner forces walking around Bakhmut this morning showing an RIA reporter the destroyed bridges.

They say that almost all the bridges in Bakhmut have been destroyed by Ukrainian forces. pic.twitter.com/WMlOhjY4mo

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) March 3, 2023

“Wagner paramilitary group units have practically surrounded Bakhmut, only one road remains [to be captured],” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video on Telegram.

The stocky 61-year old has regularly been posting about advances of Wagner, his once-shadowy force that has taken centre stage in the fight in eastern Ukraine.

He has said in recent weeks that his fighters have seized three villages north of Bakhmut — Yagidne, Berkhivka and Paraskoviivka.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. Picture: @concordgroup_official/AFP

‘Let them leave’

“If earlier we were fighting against the professional army, we now increasingly see old people and children,” Mr Prigozhin said, in the video released Friday.

“They are fighting, but their life expectancy in Bakhmut is now very short, one day or two.”

Mr Prigozhin called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “let [Ukrainian soldiers] leave”.

Ukrainian troops have held out for months, fighting brutal trench warfare and artillery battles that have flattened large portions of the city.

Mr Zelensky this week said that the fighting was “only increasing”. His comments followed an assessment from the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces Oleksandr Syrskyi, who said the situation was “extremely tense” in the city.

Only around 4500 civilians remain in the destroyed city, which had a population of about 70,000 before the conflict, Ukrainian officials said.

Destruction in the city of Bakhmut on February 27, 2023. Picture: AFPTV/AFP

Border ‘measures’

Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have reported heavy casualties in the struggle for the control of the city, whose symbolic importance outstrips its military significance.

The fight for the city has also exposed political rivalries between Mr Prigozhin and Russia’s regular army.

Last week, he issued an unprecedented call to Russians to take his side and urged the defence ministry to share ammunition with his fighters.

While the hotspot of the fighting is in the east of Ukraine, Russia said this week that a group of Ukrainian combatants had crossed into the southern Bryansk region.

Kyiv dismissed the claims as a “deliberate provocation”.

Moscow says its regions bordering Ukraine are routinely shelled by Ukrainian forces, but the reported incursion was a rare instance of fighting inside Russia.

Ukrainian servicemen load a shell into a howitzer. Picture: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP

The Kremlin said Friday it would take steps to prevent cross-border incursions which killed two.

“Measures will be taken to prevent similar events in the future,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Mr Scholz’s first trip to Washington since February 2022 offers the leaders the opportunity to demonstrate their resolve in backing Ukraine against Russia.

But the Kremlin said the deliveries only strain Western economies and would have no impact on fighting on the ground.

“[Arms deliveries] place a significant burden on the economies of these countries and negatively affect the wellbeing of citizens of these countries, including Germany,” Mr Peskov told reporters.

“It is obvious that this will prolong the conflict and have sad consequences for the Ukrainian people.”

Russia says Ukrainian saboteurs killed two civilians in Bryansk. Picture: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP

US ignores warning

But the United States responded on Friday to Russia’s warning by offering a further $US400 million ($591 million) in security assistance, as Mr Biden hosted Mr Scholz in a show of unity against Moscow.

The new security package for Kyiv features ammunition, including for the Himars precision rocket system that Ukrainian forces have used to devastating effect against Russian troops and supply dumps.

The meeting between the two leaders was a display of partnership after friction over supplying tanks to Ukraine.

When they last met, “Russia was amassing its troops” on the border, Mr Biden said in brief remarks to the press, adding the West had vowed to respond and “together we made good on that promise”.

Joe Biden meets with Olaf Scholz. Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP

In reply, Mr Scholz said it was important to send a message to Ukraine that “we will continue to [support it] as long as it takes and as long as it necessary”.

The absence of a joint press conference raised questions about remaining difficulties, but the two leaders tried to dispel that impression, and Mr Scholz said the bilateral relationship was “in a very good shape”.

In another show of support for Ukraine, US Attorney-General Merrick Garland made a surprise visit to the country on Friday to attend a conference on justice and war crimes.

“The Attorney-General held several meetings and reaffirmed our determination to hold Russia accountable for crimes committed in its unjust and unprovoked invasion against its sovereign neighbour,” a Justice Department official said.

Originally published as Wagner chief says Ukraine’s Bakhmut ‘practically surrounded’