“If we leave Bakhmut, the whole front falls”, says group leader Wagner

The battle for Bakhmut continues, but both sides seem to be suffering from ammunition shortages.

Last Sunday (5), the leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, asked Russia for more support towards the conquest of the city in eastern Ukraine, warning of the possibility of the collapse of the entire eastern front.

“If the Wagner Group withdraws from Bakhmut, the whole front will collapse. The Wagner Group is the cement, we have drawn the entire Ukrainian army to ourselves, breaking them and destroying them,” said the head of the far-right paramilitary force, quoted by The Guardian.

The Wagner Group occupies areas north, east and south of Bakhmut, with Prigozhin warning this week that “only one road is missing” for the city to be completely surrounded.

In recent weeks, the possibility has been raised that the Ukrainians will initiate a tactical withdrawal soon.

However, the spokesman for the Eastern Military Command of Ukraine, Serhiy Cherevatyi, denied this development to CNN, assuring that Kiev forces remain to defend the city.

“The fighting in Bakhmut is more on the periphery, the city is controlled by the Ukrainian defense forces: the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Border Guard and the National Guard. There is also no mass withdrawal of Ukrainian troops,” Cherevatyi said.