Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery in the direction of Bakhmut. Photo: Anadolu. «blew up the Kremlin's war machine,» Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said.
His comments are the most candid assessment from a senior Russian commander that the Kremlin's armies will not be able to repel a major Ukrainian attack expected in the coming weeks.
“The Ukrainian army will launch a counteroffensive and be able to break through the defenses somewhere,” he said in an essay published on the Internet.
Ukrainian commanders have been building up their forces for months ahead of the promised counter-offensive, though they have not said where or when they will strike.
Recent speculation has focused on the occupied city of Melitopol, about 50 miles to the south from the front line along the Dnieper River. It guards important road and rail junctions linking the occupied Crimea with the occupied parts of Donbass.
Russian troops dug miles of trenches near Melitopol, but Prigozhin said he did not trust the defense system.
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Evgeny Prigozhin constantly blamed the ministry defense of Russia and the «lazy elite» of the country. for the inability of the Kremlin to defeat Ukraine Photo: AP
“For Russia, there is a real risk that after the start of the counteroffensive, the situation at the front will worsen,” he said.
Mr. Prigozhin, who has grown in stature since the Kremlin ordered its Wagner mercenaries to fight for Bakhmut last summer, has consistently blamed the Russian Defense Ministry and Russia’s “lazy elite” for the Kremlin’s failure to defeat Ukraine in the war waged by Vladimir Putin. expect victory within a week or so.
And in his essay, he once again took on the Russian Deep State, which, in his words, was “mired in luxury and bureaucracy” and wanted to negotiate an end to the war. .
“Their focus is not on the country or the people, but on their own position in society, their own comfort and their own capital,” he said.
The American Institute for the Study of War said that Mr. Prigozhin published this essay, because he wanted to profit from the military defeat of Russia.
“Prigozhin’s essay is thematically and logistically consistent with his previously stated efforts to turn the Wagner Group into an uncompromising ideological elite parallel military organization,” it says. Most of the fighting over the past six months has been around the town of Bakhmut in the Donbass, where Wagner mercenaries have been leading Russian offensives. . Photo: Reuters /> A Ukrainian soldier rests at his position on the front line in Bakhmut. Credit: AP
Ukrainian officials continue to tease the prospect of an imminent counteroffensive in an attempt to maintain an element of surprise.
Speaking in the United States on Friday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the counteroffensive would begin «soon» and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening televised address that preparations were being completed.
«The key is to keep the destruction of the occupiers, which is done to reduce their material and technical capabilities and any potential in the occupied territories. This is preparation for our active actions, this is counter-offensive work,” he said.
Most of the fighting over the past six months has been around the city of Bakhmut in the Donbass, where Wagner mercenaries are conducting Russian attacks. In new photos and videos released on Saturday, Wagner's mercenaries again claimed to have captured the center of Bakhmut.
In the Russian Far East, the Russian Pacific Fleet was ordered to put it on high alert to test its readiness.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it was a response to rising tensions in the region, but Western analysts said the Kremlin was trying to impress China's Defense Minister, who is due in Moscow on Sunday for talks.
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