Head of the Wagner Group and well-known ally of Wladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on Thursday revealed a humiliating setback on the battlefield for Russia.

What happened: The boss of the private mercenary said a The Russian brigade had fled the area near Bakhmut, Ukraine without a fight and poses the risk of his troops being encircled by the Ukrainian armed forces.

“The situation on the western flanks is developing according to the worst of the forecast scenarios,” Prigozhin complained in an audio message released on Thursday. reported CNN.

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“These territories liberated with the blood and lives of our comrades… are being abandoned today, almost without a fight, by those who should be on our flanks.”

Why it matters: Recently, the head of the Russian private mercenary group has been doing more radical and controversial statements against Moscowindicating a break with the Russian government.

Prigozhin has repeatedly complained that the Russian military did not provide its troops with enough shells, stating that Russia’s top military leadership was indecisive and allowed Wagner fighters to die.

Prigozhin, whose private mercenaries have been trying to seize Bakhmut in Ukraine for months, also threatened to withdraw earlier this month lack of ammunition and suffering This creates “useless and unjustified” losses.

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