Wagner Group Russian Mercenaries Start Withdrawing Troops From Ukrainian Bakhmut Today, Replaced By Regular Military

Illustration of the Russian Wagner Group troops. (Twitter/@Archer83Able)

JAKARTA - The Russian mercenaries group, the Wagner Group, began withdrawing its troops from the city of Bakhmut, Ukraine, shifting its position there to regular Russian troops, founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video published on Thursday.

"We are pulling units from Bakhmut. Starting today at five in the morning, May 25 to June 1, most of the units will return to the camps at the back. We leave our position to the military," he said.

The video was uploaded on Telegram by his press service, showing Prigozhin wearing a war suit and standing next to a housing block damaged by the war.

Last week, Prigozhin announced his success in controlling Bakhmut on Saturday, after the longest and bloodiest fighting in the war.

In a recent video, Prigozhin, who has repeatedly voiced public criticism of senior Russian defense officials, said his troops would be ready to return to Bakhmut if regular soldiers were unable to cope with the situation.

Separately, Ukrainian officials insisted the pockets of resistance were still in and around the city of Bakhmut.

"If they (Russia) believe they have captured Bakhmut, I can say that this is not true. To this day, some of Bakhmut are still under our control," Ukraine's National Security Adviser Olexy Danilov told CNN.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Mailar said, as of Thursday, Wagner fighters were still in the city. However, he also said Ukrainian troops were still "overcoming the suburbs in the southwest.