Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin is no longer waiting for the Ukrainian counteroffensive: "It is already in full swing," he said on his Telegram channel on Thursday. At Bakhmut, the Ukrainian army is attacking from the flanks, "and unfortunately it is successful in some places."

Reinhard Veser

Editor in politics.

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Already on Tuesday, Prigozhin had claimed in a video that a unit of the Russian army had abandoned strategic positions near Bakhmut: "They ran away and exposed the front at a width of almost two kilometers and a depth of five hundred meters." The army had "fucked up" an area for which 500 "Wagner" fighters had fallen. The Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed Prigozhin's account of what was happening on the southwestern outskirts of Bakhmut: "The Third Assault Brigade thanks for announcing our success at the front."

However, the Ukrainians apparently did not achieve a breakthrough in Bakhmut. The American think tank Institute for the Study of War reports only "local and limited counterattacks" by Ukrainian troops. The situation report of the Ukrainian General Staff on Thursday spoke of repelled attacks by Russian troops near Bakhmut, but not of their own offensive actions. Prigozhin also states that his people continue their attacks in Bakhmut. #

Did Prigozhin refer to Putin as "grandpa"?

But Prigozhin claims that the Wagner mercenaries are still in danger of being encircled in Bakhmut because the outer flanks are beginning to collapse. Regular units of the army are fighting there, with whose leadership Prigozhin is in an ongoing conflict that has recently escalated. The mercenary leader claims that the Ministry of Defense is weakening the combat effectiveness of the "Wagner" force by refusing to supply ammunition. The army is jealous of their successes and fears competition. Last week, Prigozhin had already insulted Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valeriy Gerasimov as "dogs" in a video and threatened to withdraw his units from Bakhmut on May 10.

They are apparently still there, although Prigozhin states that the ammunition promised in the meantime has not arrived. In the video published on May 9, he had then significantly intensified his abuses against those responsible in Moscow. A passage in which he spoke about a "happy grandpa" who thinks everything is fine caused a particular stir. "But what about our country if this grandpa turns out to be a complete flat wanker?" asked Prigozhin in the video. Among Russian opponents of the regime, "Grandpa" is a derogatory nickname for President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian exile media outlet Meduza, citing sources close to the Kremlin, reported that Prigozhin's appearances had been received there as a serious threat. If Prigozhin does not change his behavior, there will be a propaganda campaign against him – or more.

One of Meduza's pro-Kremlin sources speculates that Prigozhin personally promised Putin to take Bakhmut by a certain date and now wants to blame the failure on the army. Ukrainian media also reported something similar, citing the Ukrainian secret service SBU. According to Ukrainian data, there is no shortage of ammunition on the Russian side in Bakhmut. For example, the commander of the Ukrainian army Oleksandr Syrskyj reported at the weekend – when the "Wagner" troops in Bakhmut, according to Prigozhin, had virtually no ammunition left – of an intensification of shelling.