"The Wagner group of fighters has begun to withdraw from Bakhmut ": this is what the head and founder of the Russian private militia Yevgeny Prigozhin wrote on Telegram, posting a video with greetings and handshakes between him and the soldiers with their faces covered.
In his Tuesday interview with pro-Russian blogger Konstantin Dolgov, Prigozhin recalled how the Russian military leadership has so far failed to achieve the main goals of the war in Ukraine. And he accused Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Army Chief of Staff General Valery Gerasimov of blocking support and supplies to his mercenaries.
Prigozhin also said 20,000 of his fighters were killed in the battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and warned that Russia could face another revolution if its leadership does not improve its handling of the war . Prigozhin explained that 20 percent of the 50,000 inmates Wagner had recruited, and a similar number of his regular troops, were killed in several months of fighting for Bakhmut. Wagner's leader warned of the risk of a "revolution" after the children of the poorest families are sent to "die" at the front, while those of the "elite" are kept away from the war. “ First the soldiers will rise up, then their loved ones . There are already tens of thousands of them, relatives of those who were killed. And there will probably be hundreds of thousands, we can't avoid that," he explained.
In the meantime , the anti-government partisans responsible for the raids in the Belgorod region are gaining a foothold in Russia : the Legion for Freedom of Russia has in fact announced that «patriots of Sochi» have joined the movement and has published images of leaflets with its symbol (a fist) posted on the walls of the city. «Unknown patriots of Sochi support the resistance movement! Leaflets supporting the Legion appeared on city walls. Freedom is near!» reads a message from the group.
Ukrainian forces said they destroyed all 36 kamikaze drones launched by Russia last night , the Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram, Ukrinform reports. “It was a difficult night. Enemy used 36 Shahed to continue terrorizing Ukraine. Not one of them has reached the goal. I am grateful to our Air Defense Forces for the 100 percent result,” wrote President Volodymyr Zelensky in Telegram. «On the night of May 25, 2023, the enemy attacked Ukraine with Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 attack drones. In total, 36 aircraft were launched from the northern and southern directions. The enemy was likely aiming to attack critical infrastructure and military facilities in the western regions of the state,” the Air Force post read.
