Russian forces are nearing their first major tactical victory as they close in on the besieged city of Bakhmut, Ukraine.
The head of a Russian paramilitary mercenary organization, the Wagner Group, said on Friday that his troops have the area nearly surrounded. Wagner troops are leading the fight in the area.
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"Units of the private military company Wagner have practically surrounded Bakhmut," Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said, appearing in combat uniform. He also urged Ukrainian leaders to withdraw troops from the city.
Conversely, Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communication said that "this is part of a disinformation campaign against the population of Ukraine to spread panic and provoke the top military and political leadership."
The organization noted that Prigozhin’s video was filmed on the outskirts of Bakhmut, which CNN reported matched its geolocation and analysis of the video.
“The Russian command avoids visiting the front line, and it is not the first time that Prigozhin has imitated being on the front line while actually being in the rear,” the center added.
“The Russian occupiers have sent the most trained units of the PMC Wagner and other regular units of the Russian army to capture the city. Intense fighting is taking place in and around the city,” the Ukrainian Army Land Forces said in a post.
The fighting in Bakhmut, a city with a prewar population of roughly 70,000 people, has gone on for months and is far from the type of battlefield success the Kremlin envisioned a year after it invaded Ukraine. Both sides have suffered devastating casualties in the fighting, while Kyiv leaders have acknowledged the deteriorating situation this week as Russia makes incremental progress.
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Capturing Bakhmut would meet a long sought-after success for Moscow, marking its first major victory in months, as it would include significant roads that connect various parts of the Donetsk region. It would also notch a significant victory for Prigozhin, who has recently been at odds with Russia's Ministry of Defense.
Prigozhin escalated the feud last week, accusing Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu of "treason" for supposedly intentionally providing his troops with fewer resources, leading to unnecessary deaths. The two sides seemingly worked through the matter, but the public nature of the dispute highlighted the possible tension between figures within Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle.