Head of Russia's Wagner group admits 'Putin's soldiers are fleeing' as missiles hit Luhansk in Ukraine assault
13 May 2023, 00:01 | Updated: 13 May 2023, 00:29
The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin has said Ukraine's counter-attack is going "full steam ahead", with Ukrainian soldiers "attacking successfully".
It is believed Ukrainian forces have made significant advances with counter attacks on Russian positions near Bakhmut, after fierce fighting in the eastern city.
Russia has denied reports that Ukraine has gained ground in the region, but the chief of the Russian Wagner mercenary group said Vladimir Putin's conscripts are "fleeing...not regrouping".
Ukraine’s military chiefs say their forces have advanced 1.2 miles in a week, taking back territory captured by Russian invaders.
“Those territories, which were taken with the blood and lives of our comrades-in-arms for many months, every day, by tens or hundreds of metres are now being thrown almost without a fight by those [Russian army soldiers] who are supposed to hold our flanks," Prigozhin said earlier today.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised his troops and said the morale of Russian soldiers had dropped.
Mr Zelenskyy said: |The occupiers are already mentally prepared for defeat. They have already lost this war in their minds.
"We must push them every day so that their sense of defeat turns into their retreat, their mistakes, their losses."
The Battle of Bakhmut pic.twitter.com/Ru7bxykNSX
— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) May 12, 2023
It is clear evidence of the success of the Ukrainian spring counter-offensive.
Russia’s defence minstry said: “The individual declarations on Telegram about a 'breakthrough' on several points on the frontline do not correspond to reality.
"The general situation in the special military operation zone is under control," it added.
Russia is understood to have suffered a significant loss of troops as Ukraine gained 2km - 1.2miles - with no loss of territory.
Russian military bloggers have reported Ukrainian troop advances.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War reported Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces Commander Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi claiming Russian forces had retreated up to two kilometre (1.24 miles) behind their lines.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on Friday that her country’s forces had advanced by about a mile around Bakhmut this week.
She said “the enemy failed to carry out its plans; the enemy suffered great losses of manpower; our defenders advanced 2 km (1.2 miles) in the Bakhmut sector; we did not lose a single position in Bakhmut this week.”
The Institute for the Study of War tweeted: “Ukrainian forces likely broke through some Russian lines in localised counter-attacks near Bakhmut, prompting responses from Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD).
“Ukrainian forces continued to conduct successful but localised counter-attacks around Bakhmut on May 11, likely constraining Russian offensive efforts.”
It added: “The deployment of low-quality Russian forces on the flanks around Bakhmut suggests that the Russian MoD has largely abandoned the aim of encircling a significant number of Ukrainian forces there.”
Ukrainian official Anton Gerashenko posted online: “Russian defense in Bakhmut and around the city continues to crumble - Prigozhin's fits speak for that.”
Moscow’s main target for months has been Bakhmut, which it has yet to fully capture despite the bloodiest ground combat in Europe since World War Two.
It comes after Russia threatened Britain with "an adequate response" from its military after the UK announced plans to send ‘Storm Shadow’ missiles to Ukraine.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace confirmed on Thursday that the UK will be donating Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine, telling MPs they will give the war-torn country the "best chance to defend themselves against Russia's continued brutality".
The long-range, conventional-only, precision strike capability weapons will give Ukraine the "best chance to defend themselves against Russia's continued brutality," said Wallace during a statement to MPs in the Commons.
Wallace stressed that Ukraine has a right to defend itself against Russia's "deliberate targeting of Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, which is against international law.
"The donation of these weapons systems comes as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, with Wallace stating that Russia's aggression is "already failing."
The Storm Shadow has the range to strike deep into Russian-held territory in Eastern Ukraine, giving Ukrainian forces the ability to hit Russian troops and supply dumps deep behind the front lines.
