The head of the Wagner Group asks the Russian Defense Minister to travel to Bakhmut in the face of the "difficult situation"

The head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeni Prigozhin, has demanded this Friday that the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, travel to the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut (east) to “assess the difficult operational situation” at the front, in the framework of recent tensions between the private military company and the Russian Government over the invasion of Ukraine.

“Taking into account the difficult operational situation and your extensive combat experience, I ask you to come to Bakhmut territory, which is under the control of Russian military units, to assess the situation for yourself,” Prigozhin said in a letter sent to to Shoigu, published by his press service through his Telegram account.

The tone of the message could be interpreted as a mockery of the minister, who has the rank of general, although he has never served in the ranks of the Army.

Prigozhin has also pointed to “a series of successful counterattacks by the enemy” in Bakhmut, hours after the Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister, Ganna Maliar, assured that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had managed to advance two kilometers on the front.. For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense has said that this information “does not correspond to reality.”

Public criticism of Prigozhin, whose mercenaries are fighting on the side of the Kremlin in the invasion of Ukraine, has contributed to fueling doubts about the true potential of the Russian forces, in relation to ammunition supplies or the lack of capacity to break the defensive barriers of the Ukrainian troops in the east of the country, with Bakhmut as one of the main epicenters of the fighting.