The chief of the Wagner private military group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said Sunday that his forces will leave the front line in eastern Ukraine on May 25 after “capturing all the territories they promised to capture, to the last square centimeter.”
Prigozhin said he is handing over his positions to the Russian Ministry of Defense after Wagner forces leave.
There has been no immediate public response from the defense ministry.
“We, as I said yesterday, are handing over our positions to the (Russian) Ministry of Defense and on the 25th we are leaving the combat zone,” the Wagner head said in an audio message on his Press Service Telegram page. “Therefore, all the tasks that will continue to be carried out are carried out by the brave units of the Ministry of Defense, and we go out to the field camps.”
“From June 1, not a single Wagner PMC fighter will be at the forefront until we go through reorganization and equipment and training,” Prigozhin added.
He also dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s insistence that the city of Bakhmut is not fully occupied by Russia as of Sunday.Â
“There is not a single Ukrainian soldier in Bakhmut,” Wagner’s chief claimed. “And this is why we stopped taking any more POWs.”
Keep in mind: Prigozhin has previously made brash or misleading statements about the war and his mercenaries’ role in it — and occasionally backtracked on them. He is also known to speak sarcastically.
More on Bakhmut: Prigozhin’s announcement comes one day after Russia declared victory in the long-contested eastern city. The mercenary group says it has seized complete control of the city after many months of fighting led by Prigozhin’s forces.
Ukraine, meanwhile, claims it is holding on to a small area in the western part of the city — and that its progress in areas surrounding the city has left it in a strong position.
Read more on the claims and counterclaims in Bakhmut here.
