Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Russia’s Wagner militia, said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces were “not going anywhere” and were continuing to fight in Bakhmut, adding that Russia would need better organization and more ammunition to push beyond the besieged city.
The Ukrainians “have organized defense inside the city,” Mr. Prigozhin said on his social media channel. “We cannot talk of any offensive yet.”
Bakhmut, a small city in eastern Ukraine, has turned into a bleeding sore for both the Russian and Ukrainian militaries as they have fought bitterly for months to control it, erasing entire neighborhoods and with each side losing thousands of men. Russian forces now surround the city on three sides, and in recent days have appeared to edge closer to the Ukrainian-controlled western side of Bakhmut.
Mr. Prigozhin’s comments came a day after Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, gave a vague hint that Ukraine might eventually retreat.
“For me, the most important issue is our military,” Mr. Zelensky said at a news conference during a visit to neighboring Poland on Wednesday. “Certainly, if there is a moment of even hotter events and the danger that we may lose personnel due to the encirclement, there will certainly be corresponding correct decisions of the general on the ground.”
Mr. Zelensky’s comments did not go beyond what his battlefield commanders have already said: If it appears that Ukrainian forces are about to be surrounded in Bakhmut, they will retreat to preserve lives.
Mr. Prigozhin, who commands a private army that has waged some of the fiercest fighting on the Russian side, has frequently complained about a lack of support from Russia’s Defense Ministry.
