A Russian brigade has abandoned its position on a bridge in Bakhmut, allowing Ukrainian forces to capture it, Ukraine said.
“It’s official. [Yevgeny] Prigozhin’s report about the flight of Russia’s 72nd Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade from near Bakhmut and the ‘500 corpses’ of Russians left behind is true,” Ukraine’s Third Separate Assault Brigade said in a statement.
Vladimir Putin’s soldiers in some parts of Bakhmut have retreated by up to two kilometres (1.2 miles), Ukrainian colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi claimed.
Bakhmut has been the epicentre of the bloodiest ground combat in Europe since the Second World War for nearly 10 months now.
The chief of Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries confirmed Russian troops were fleeing their positions on a bridge near Bakhmut.
“Our army is fleeing. The 72nd Brigade pissed away three square km this morning, where I had lost around 500 men,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said, complaining his troops were receiving only 10 per cent of the shells they needed.
