March 3 (Reuters) – Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, said on Friday that the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmout was “virtually surrounded” by its fighters and that Ukrainian soldiers had no now only one road to leave the city.
Wagner’s fighters, who support the Russian army in the war in Ukraine, have been fighting fiercely for several months to try to seize the city of Bakhmout before launching offensives against other cities such as Kramatorsk or Sloviansk.
Yevgeny Prigojine, dressed in a military uniform, urged Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky in a video to withdraw his troops from the city.
“The units of the private military group Wagner have almost surrounded Bakhmout. There is only one road left (open to Ukrainian forces). The noose is tightening,” says the founder of Wagner. (Reuters report, French version Matthieu Protard, edited by Kate Entringer)
©2023 Thomson Reuters, all rights reserved. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters or its third party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. “Reuters” and the Reuters Logo are trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies.