Situation at Bachmut: Russian Mil blogger rants and describes internal quarrels

Both Wagner boss Prigozhin and a Ukrainian military spokesman yesterday reported a successful advance of Ukrainian troops into the town of Bakhmut, which has been fighting for months. Ukrainian units of the third southern regiment advanced to a width of 3 kilometers to 2 kilometers. The Russian 72nd Motorized Brigade was defeated but not completely destroyed. The statements, which cannot be independently verified, have since been reproduced by several news agencies. Watson also reported the successful counter-offensive.

The Institute for War Studies could not confirm this information from satellite images. It reported “marginal successes” in Ukraine, 14 kilometers southwest of Bakhmut near Bila Hora and west of Khromova.

So far, only the Ukrainian OSINT platform “Deep State” has provided a map of the recaptured areas. It shows (as reported by the ISW) a territorial gain in southwest Bakhmut. The information from “Deep State” should be treated with caution. However, they have proven to be relatively reliable in the past.

Meanwhile, Russian Mil blogger Anastasia Kashevarova confirmed the Ukrainians’ successful advance in an angry Telegram post. She speaks of massive internal communication deficiencies, disputes and acts of sabotage on the ground – mainly between the Wagner mercenaries and the armed forces of Russia.

All units, including those of the LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic), the DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) and the Chechen Kadyrovsky, are at odds with each other. It was “all against all – worse than women”: “Wagner throws the 72. [Brigade] pretends to have destroyed their bread. Conversely, Wagner has them [der 72. Brigade] stole a tank. Russian military police have seized much-needed first aid supplies and customs are seizing drones.”

The main problems are that there is no commander-in-chief that all groups without exception would respect – and the lack of mutual solidarity: “Everyone wants to be a hero. But without unity this will not happen.”

Kashevarova (253,000 followers on Telegram) is a staunch supporter of war and a nationalist, but does not shy away from criticism and warm words. She wrote yesterday about the lack of ammunition: «Everything depends on the bureaucracy. We are losing lives because of bureaucratic officials who can’t get around a bunch of laws and other nonsense they wrote themselves. There is no martial law – no one wants to take responsibility… How do you get out of this vicious circle of idiocy and bureaucracy? It is necessary that a few people at the top take responsibility and give clear and quick orders… Where are all those men with guts and political will?”