The head of the Russian mercenary group said his troops were near the center of the frontline town in eastern Ukraine.
The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner said that his troops are near the center of the frontline town of Bakhmut.
In a video posted to messaging app Telegram on Saturday, Yevgeny Prigozhin stands on the roof of a high-rise building in what he believes to be Bakhmut.
“This is the city administration building, this is the center of the city,” Prigozhin said in the video, pointing to a building in the distance.
“It’s one kilometer and 200 meters away,” said Prigozhin, dressed in full military gear.
Al Jazeera could not verify the location where the footage was taken.
As artillery roared in the background, Prigozhin said that the most important thing now is to get more ammunition from the army and “go forward.” He said his forces needed 10,000 tons of ammunition for the battle each month.
Wagner has led offensives against cities in eastern Ukraine, including Bakhmut, in the longest and bloodiest battle of Russia’s years-long assault. Both sides have suffered heavy casualties around Bakhmut.
Prigozhin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, is locked in a power struggle with the Defense Ministry.
He has repeatedly claimed battlefield victories ahead of the Russian army, criticized top Russian forces and accused the military of not sharing ammunition with his ragtag forces.
In the video released on Saturday, he said he was ready to ask forgiveness from Russia’s top commanders, but at the same time appeared to mock Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov.
He said they were “outstanding military commanders,” adding that Russia’s top military leaders, including Georgy Zhukov and Alexander Suvorov, “learned” from them.
“I absolutely – fully – support all their initiatives,” Prigozhin added.
“Necessary to gain time”
Earlier this week Wagner said his fighters had taken the eastern part of Bakhmut.
Some military experts have questioned the rationale for Ukraine’s continued defense of the devastated city, but Kiev officials say Bakhmut’s fall could prompt further Russian advances east.
Commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces Oleksandr Syrsky said Saturday the battle for Bakhmut is helping buy time to prepare for a future counteroffensive.
“The real heroes now are the defenders who hold the Eastern Front on their shoulders and inflict the heaviest casualties without sparing themselves or the enemy,” Syrski was quoted as saying in a statement.
“It is necessary to gain time to build up reserves and launch a counter-offensive that is not far away.”
British military intelligence said on Saturday that the Bakhmutka River in central Bakmut now marks the front line.
“Ukrainian forces are holding the west of the city and have demolished key bridges across the river, which … runs north-south through a 200- to 800-metre-wide strip of open ground,” Britain’s MoD said in an update.
“This area has become a death zone, likely making it a major challenge for Wagner forces attempting to continue their westward frontal attack.”
Elsewhere in Ukraine, three civilians were killed in Russian shelling of Kherson and another person was killed in the eastern Donetsk region, regional officials said.
Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of Kherson’s regional military administration, said three people, including an elderly woman, were also injured during artillery shelling of the city.
“Today the Russian occupiers hit Kherson again. Three people were killed by debris from a shell on Mykolayivsky street near a shop,” Prokudin told Ukrainian TV, adding that a car, several buses and a commercial building were damaged.
Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said one person was killed and at least three civilians wounded in the city of Kostyantynivka after several rounds of Russian shelling during the day.
The Donetsk region has seen some of the heaviest fighting since Russia deployed troops to Ukraine on February 24 last year.