Prigozhin accuses the army of “hiding” its losses from the Ukrainian counterattack

The head of the Wagner mercenary organization, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has again today accused the Russian military hierarchy of “hiding” the difficulties the armed forces are facing in the face of the Ukrainian counter-offensive that began in early June.

“The enemy has captured Pyatihatti, north of Rubotyn and Uruzhan, which means that large parts of the territory have been lost,” Prigozhin said in an audio message posted on Telegram.

He added that a few weeks after the start of the Ukrainian counter-attack, “Kiev has caused heavy losses on our side and problems for suffocating them that the Russians do not know about,” criticizing the Russian military officials with whom he was openly clashing. for several months. “They are completely hiding all this from the whole world. One day Russia will wake up and see that Crimea is Ukrainian. This is a betrayal of the interests of the Russian Federation,” Prigozhin said.

Prigozhin, fighting his men in the front lines, pursued mainly in the east and Ukraine suffered heavy losses.

He claimed that in the Sandov district, north of Tokmak, in the Zaporizhia region, “there is no leadership, no weapons, no ammunition.”

Kiev has so far declared that it has liberated eight communities, while Moscow has limited itself to saying that its army is repelling all Ukrainian attacks.

Prigozhin accused the military leadership and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of publishing information that did not correspond to reality: “The information is withheld, the enemy is advancing towards Molochny Lyman,” a town near the Black Sea, south of Melitopol.

The capture of this village would allow the Ukrainian army access to the shores of the Black Sea, cutting off part of the Russian army. Prigozhin warned, referring to a disastrous scenario for Russia, whose stated goal is to seize the entire Donbass basin and consolidate its power in the territories it has occupied in southern Ukraine.

Asked about the situation on the front, Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier in the day that there was “relative calm” and again referred to the “heavy losses” of the Ukrainians.

Source: AMPE