Wagner Group Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin slammed Russian army claims of military advances on Ukrainian forces. The mercenary group boss said that the Russian generals’ statements are “wild fantasies”.
Russia’s claims that its military had inflicted massive casualties on advancing Ukrainian troops are “wild fantasies”, the boss of Russian mercenary group Wagner said Tuesday.
Moscow’s defense ministry said Monday it had thwarted a Ukrainian offensive, killing a total of “1,500 servicemen” and destroying more than 100 armored vehicles.
“To destroy one and a half thousand people, it must be such a massacre, within one day, over 150 kilometers (90 miles), one hell of a massacre,” Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Telegram in response to the claims.
Prigozhin also said Monday that Kyiv’s troops had made gains near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which Russia claimed to have seized control of last month.
Russian troops, he said, were “slowly” leaving the village of Berkhivka near Bakhmut, which he said was a “disgrace”.
Prigozhin has been embroiled in a public spat with Russia’s regular army and has accused Moscow’s military leadership of not supplying enough ammunition, among other criticisms.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
