Global Courant 2023-05-01 11:52:48
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, threatened to withdraw his mercenaries from the beleaguered Ukrainian city of Bakhmut if the ammunition supply problems were not resolved.
The statement came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked for help with modern air defense systems following one of the deadliest Russian attacks on civilians in recent months.
In an interview published on April 29, Prigozhin said he would be “forced to withdraw some units” from Bakhmuti if Wagner did not receive more ammunition soon, continuing a complaint he has voiced for weeks.
Bakhmut, a major transport hub in the Donetsk region, has been the scene of the most intense fighting over the past few months with high casualties on both sides.
Ukrainian military officials have said the loss of Bakhmut, which sits in the hills offering a natural defense, would open up its troops stationed in other parts of Donetsk to attack.
Wagner has led Russian efforts to take Bakhmut since last year, but has been unable to dislodge Ukrainian fighters, who still hold the western corners of the city.
Prigozhin warned that a retreat by Wagner from Bakhmuti would lead to a Russian collapse along other parts of the 1,000-kilometer front.
As Prigozhin spoke, Russian forces continued to press the Bakhmut-Adviyivka-Maryinka front line, launching 48 unsuccessful attacks on Ukrainian positions, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its daily update on April 29.
Meanwhile, Zelenskiy called on Ukraine’s allies and partners to provide Ukraine with better air defense after at least 25 people, including several children, were killed in a wave of Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kiev, on April 28.
Hardest hit was Uman, a city in central Ukraine’s Cherkasy region, where at least 23 people, including four children, were killed when a Russian missile hit a nine-story apartment building, according to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry.
About 109 people are believed to have lived in the part of the building that was hit.
The Uman city council declared a three-day period of mourning and prosecutors have opened a war crimes investigation, authorities said.
“Air defense, modern aircraft, without which there is no fully effective air defense, artillery, armored vehicles. All that is necessary to provide security in our cities, in our villages, both inside and on the front lines,” Zelenskiy said in his late-night speech on April 28.
Earlier, Zelenskiy condemned the attacks as “a night of Russian terror”.
“Russian evil can be stopped with guns – our defenders are doing it. And it can be stopped with sanctions – global sanctions must be increased,” he said.
The Ukrainian Air Force Command later reported that the multi-pronged attack on Ukrainian cities was executed by Russian Tu-195 strategic bombers coming from the Caspian Sea region.
The United States and some allies have given Ukraine several Patriot missile systems, considered one of the most advanced defense weapons in NATO’s arsenal. Each Patriot system can defend a city.
Western allies have also provided Ukraine with other air defense systems, but recent US intelligence reports have shown that Ukraine’s air defenses remain a weak link.
Global Courantl
