Prigozhin appears a few hundred meters behind the front line. Iran and Saudi Arabia want to normalize relations

The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary militia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has posted a video online that allegedly shows him with heavily armed fighters in the vicinity of the front in Ukraine. The mercenary boss is said to be standing in front of a Soviet tank memorial in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut – a few hundred meters from the nearest Ukrainian position.

«Especially for Bachmut’s New York Times Magazine. Exclusively by Yevgeny Prigozhin,” Prigozhin wrote in the corresponding Telegram post on Wednesday. The Wagner boss has repeatedly portrayed himself as a fighter against Ukraine, apparently alluding to the fact that he knows that the Western media is posting his updates from the war on the following closely According to the article, he met with the fighters and announced further scenarios for the course of the war.

How close the mercenary chief actually dared to come to the front is unclear. While Prigozhin himself indicates that he is 150 to 250 meters from the front in Bakhmut, war observers indicate a distance of 580 to 800 meters. “It’s on the other side of the river, half a mile from downtown,” writes American journalist Christopher Miller.

The head of a ruthless assassin squad so close to the front lines – and the Ukrainian army is letting it happen? This question is widely discussed on the Internet. Some users write that Prigozhin rarely ventures so close to the Ukrainian armed forces. The Ukrainian secret services and army should have known about this and reacted.

Observers point out that the Ukrainian representatives have taken no action because Prigozhin, in his current position, is of more use to Ukraine alive than dead, as he has long been massively criticizing the Russian military leadership. “These tensions could help Ukraine more in the future,” writes a pro-Ukrainian Twitter user who posts under the name Ewhen Chymera. On Thursday, Prigozhin again published a video complaining about the lack of ammunition in his Wagner troop. He accused the Russian Defense Ministry of ignoring his calls and deactivating his fighters’ identity cards.

But there are also other voices: the political scientist Roman Oben protests on Twitter that the loss of their leader could splinter the Wagner group and make it less effective. This could have consequences for the course of the war in eastern Ukraine, as the Russian military leadership has for some time seen the Wagner units as competitors and is trying to control them better.

Prior to this, Prigozhin had been running a publicity campaign in the small Ukrainian town of Soledar north of Bakhmut. The mercenary had announced the capture of the strategically important city and claimed victory exclusively for its combat troops. The Russian army leadership initially denied this, but soon admitted that Prigozhin’s troops had contributed to the conquest. Read more about conquering Soledar here.

Meanwhile, the battle for Bakhmut rages on. The Russian army has been trying to take over the city for almost nine months, and it could happen soon. The Wagner troops are already in the eastern part of Bakhmut. Corridors are now heading towards the Sobachivka district in the south and to the non-ferrous metal plant in the north of the city, the group claimed on Wednesday. According to observers, the place will be surrounded by Russian troops.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently stressed that Ukraine would not give up on Bakhmut and promised to send more reinforcements to the city. Kiev fears that capturing Bakhmut could allow the Russian army to push further into the Donetsk region and take full control of the region.

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