Ukraine Says Russian Brigade Escaped From Bakhmut, Wagner's Mercenaries Angry To Lose 500 Members

Conditions of Bakhmut Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/Armed Forces of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - The Ukrainian military said on Wednesday it managed to expel a Russian infantry brigade from the region near Bakhmut, claiming to have confirmed a statement from the head of the Wagner Group's mercenaries, Russian troops had fled.

Moscow has not yet commented on reports from both sides that the 72nd Separate Motor-rifle Brigade has left its position on the southwestern suburbs of Bakhmut.

The boss of Russian mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has repeatedly accused the regular Moscow armed forces of failing to support his private forces leading the fighting in Bakhmut, said on Tuesday that the Russian brigade had abandoned its position.

"Our army fled. The 72nd Brigade 'entangled' three square kilometers this morning, where I have lost about 500 people," Prigozhin upset.

In a statement last night, the Third Separate Assault Ukrainian Brigade said: "This is official. Prigozhin's report on the escape of Russia's 72nd Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade near Bakhmut and the abandoned Russian's '500 bodies' is correct."

"Brigade the Third Striker is grateful for the publicity of our success on the front lines," the military unit continued.

On Wednesday morning, the unit formed from Ukraine's Nationalist Azov Battalion re-uploaded a video of one of the founders of Azov, Andriy Biletsky, who said his forces had "beaten" the Russian brigade.

"In fact, the 6th and 7th brigade squadrons were almost completely destroyed, brigade intelligence was destroyed, large numbers of combat vehicles were destroyed, large numbers of prisoners were taken," he said.

"The attacks were carried out in a 3 km wide and 2.6 km deep area, and the entire region was completely freed from Russian occupation forces," he said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's eastern military command said Russia's brigade had been badly damaged, although it said Russia was still trying its best to seize the rest of the city.

"Unfortunately they have not destroyed the entire brigade (Russia), two companies were badly damaged there," Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for the eastern military command, said in televised comments.

"The situation (in Bakhmut) remains difficult because for the enemy, despite all the white noise that Prigozhin is trying to create, it (Bakhmut) (still) the direction of the main attack, the main target being coveted," he said.

Separately, the Russian Ministry of Defense did not immediately return a Reuters request for comment, and Reuters was unable to independently confirm the situation in the area.

A Russian brigade typically consists of several thousand troops. Meanwhile, the Bakhmut, which is located in eastern Ukraine, has been the main target of Moscow's massive winter attacks, becoming the site of Europe's most bloody land fighting since the Second World War.

It is known that Prigozhin has repeatedly threatened to pull Wagner troops out of Bakhmut, unless Russia's regular armed forces send more ammunition to its troops.

In his latest comments on Wednesday, he said his troops received only 10 percent of the bullets they needed.