Ukrainian Armed Forces confirm that they have recaptured 2 km of Ukrainian territory near Bakhmut

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that Ukrainian forces launched a counterattack in the Bakhmut sector and managed to regain control of part of the territory in some areas.

"Thanks to the well-thought-out defense in the Bakhmut sector, we are getting the results of effective actions of our units. In particular, we are conducting effective counterattacks. In some parts of the frontline, the enemy was unable to withstand the onslaught of Ukrainian defenders and retreated to a distance of up to 2 kilometers," the commander-in-chief wrote.

"It was the competent conduct of the defensive operation that exhausted the trained forces of the Wagner PMC and forced them to be replaced in certain areas by less trained units of the russian regular troops, which were defeated and retreated," Syrskyi noted.

Thus, Syrskyi confirmed the previous statements of the founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that "one of the units of the Ministry of Defense (of the russian Federation) fled from one of our flanks, leaving the positions."

In his message, Prigozhin said that the russian military "all fled and exposed a front almost two kilometers wide and 500 meters deep." "Well, we blocked it haphazardly," Prigozhin added.

Syrskyi said that "our forces are holding the front securely and not allowing the enemy to advance."

Meanwhile, on Wednesday afternoon, Prigozhin made several more statements about the situation in Bakhmut.

In particular, he said that "Bakhmut has no strategic importance" and the operation to capture it was needed in order to "build up offensive potential, grind the enemy's manpower and enable the russian army to mobilize after the failures and retreat of the russian Armed Forces from Kharkiv, Kherson and other regions."

At the same time, according to Prigozhin, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are "gathering for a counteroffensive," which will result in the "meat grinder" working in the opposite direction in the absence of ammunition for his mercenaries: The Ukrainian Armed Forces will destroy the Wagner PMC.

Prigozhin believes that after the flanks are transferred to the control of the russian Defense Ministry, "there is a serious risk of encirclement of the Wagner PMC in Bakhmut."

"The flanks are already cracking and failing," he said.

Background. The day before, Prigozhin complained about the lack of ammunition and called putin an "asshole."