Wagner boss fears that his best men are in great danger in Bachmoet: “I will stay with them to the bitter end” | War Ukraine and Russia

The fact that the mercenaries that Prigozhin recruited in Russian prisons were used as cannon fodder during storming of the Ukrainian lines does not worry the Wagner boss. But now that his best soldiers can also be slaughtered, it is a completely different matter.

“The Battle of Bachmut could seriously affect Wagner’s elite forces, depriving Russia of some of its most effective and hardest to replace shock troops,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) analyzes. and foreign policy.

A number of statements made by Prigozhin in recent days indicate that he fears that the Russian Defense Ministry wants to fight Bachmut to the very last Wagner fighter, which could mean the end of his mercenary army. For example, he claims that he wrote a letter to the commander of the Russian troops in Ukraine (General Valeri Gerasimov) with an urgent request for ammunition, but that the person who was supposed to deliver it was not allowed access to the Russian headquarters.

He also says that Ukraine has set up special assault units to break the blockade of Bachmut by the Wagnerians. And that if Wagner does not receive necessary ammunition and reinforcements, all is lost and he will remain with his troops “to the bitter end”.

“That indicates that he is positioning himself as the ultimate martyr for the ideological cause that Bachmut has come to represent to Russian military bloggers. And more importantly, it shows that he understands that his elite troops are in grave danger,” said the ISW.

LOOK. Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video earlier this week that the besieged city of Bachmut is “practically surrounded”. For now, however, Ukraine is still holding out.

If Prigozhin’s mercenary army emerges badly damaged or even completely out of the battle for Bachmut, that would undoubtedly be good news for Ukraine and the West. Prigozhin is a strong supporter of the war and spreads those ideas in Russia as well. His popularity increased sharply last year, partly due to his successes on the battlefield, to the point that he even became a possible threat to Putin.

“Damaging Prigozhin’s power and reputation in Russia would also be an important step in the possible restoration – over time – of reason in Russia,” the ISW said.

The battle for Bachmut in eastern Ukraine has been going on for months. The siege is already considered the bloodiest of the war. Neither Ukraine nor Russia wants to give way. However, the city has no real strategic value. For Russia it could mean the first real victory in more than half a year, which would give a victory a symbolic value.

According to Western intelligence services, the Wagner group has already suffered heavy losses in Bachmoet. “There are said to be between 20,000 and 30,000 casualties in the mercenary army, with about one in three killed,” the British morning newspaper ‘i’ said.