Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces have begun pulling out of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut to hand responsibility to the Russian army.
Days after he claimed to have taken the city following months of intense fighting, a video posted on Prigozhin’s Telegram channel Thursday showed him in military fatigues talking to troops on a tank about the withdrawal that he said would be completed by June 1.
“We’ll have a rest, get prepared and then we’ll get new orders,” Prigozhin said, adding that Wagner’s positions would be turned over to regular Russian army troops. “Leave them soap, take your toothbrushes.”
