📢 Statement

Wagner Group chief Evgeny Prigozhin stated his forces cannot capture Bakhmut due to strong Ukrainian defenses and accused the Russian army of attempting to bleed out Wagner by depriving them of prison recruits.

Bakhmut, Donetsk
Verified Independently confirmed by 5 sources
Stefan Korshak (Substack) Ukrainska Pravda Kyiv Independent Kyiv Post Censor.NET

Multiple high-reliability sources confirm the core facts of this event.

How we assess confidence →

Entities

Source Reports

Wagner Group chief Evgeny Prigozhin stated his forces cannot capture Bakhmut due to strong Ukrainian defenses and accused the Russian army of attempting to bleed out Wagner by depriving them of prison recruits.

US intelligence officials believe that Russia's capture of Bakhmut will not lead to significant strategic shifts because Russia has expended extraordinary blood and treasure for it

Ukraine denied that Russia captured a village near Bakhmut.

Russian troops are banned from retreating and have no capacity to advance at Vuhledar

Colonel Serhii Cherevaty stated that access to Bakhmut is not closed but a more secure mode has been introduced, requiring accreditation or permission for journalists and volunteers.

About 5,000 residents currently remain in Bakhmut.

Share This Event

Know another source?

If you've seen this event covered by another news outlet, submit it for editorial review. Approved sources improve our confidence ratings.

This event is already verified. Additional sources further strengthen the record.

Submissions are reviewed by an editor before integration.
Extraction metadata

Extracted: 2026-07-18T16:57:31.265Z

Source story: day-357-2023-02-17