American officials see no evidence that PMC "Wagner" plans to fully withdraw from Bakhmut, writes Politico, citing an anonymous comment by a high-ranking US official.
According to two senior US officials, Wagner-linked forces continue to hold most of the territory in the city of Bakhmut and have significant ammunition reserves, despite some losses.
Despite Prigozhin's claims, Wagner continues to hold significant stockpiles of ammunition and controls at least 85 percent of Bakhmut, US officials said. One official noted that even though the Wagner PMCs appeared to be intact, it was still likely that Chechen forces were moving into the city to help them.
Politico noted that both officials, who gave comments on the condition of anonymity, participated in the administration's latest conversations related to Russia and the activities of "Wagner" in Ukraine.
Last week, the handsome man posted a series of videos on social media in which he threatened to completely withdraw his soldiers from the city, because they allegedly lack the necessary weapons and ammunition.
Instead, Prigozhin suggested that the "kadyrov" change them. Wagner's leader later abandoned this idea, saying in one of the videos that the Russian Ministry of Defense assured that it would send additional resources to the front.
These statements led to speculation that Wagner's fighters may soon leave Bakhmut altogether, creating an opportunity for Ukrainian forces to advance.
The commander of the Eastern Group of Forces, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated that the enemy could not withstand the pressure of the Ukrainian defenders in some areas of the front and retreated to a distance of up to 2 kilometers.
