(Reuters) – The head of Russia’s mercenary Wagner group said on Monday his troops were beginning to receive ammunition needed to press their advance to capture the long-besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
“Today, the groups advanced a maximum of 130 metres (400 feet) … Fierce fighting is going on, but the groups are continuing to advance,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio message posted on social media.
“According to preliminary data, we are starting to receive ammunition. We have not (yet) seen it in practice.”
Prigozhin said Ukrainian forces were confined to an area of about 2.36 square km (0.9 square miles) in the town.
Bakhmut has been under Russian attack for more than nine months, with Wagner spearheading repeated attempts to advance on what once was a city of 70,000.
Ukrainian commanders have vowed to keep their hold on the city despite a Russian drive to take it in time for Tuesday’s Victory Day holiday marking the defeat of Nazi Germany
Prigozhin last week threatened to pull his forces out unless they received the ammunition they needed, but subsequently withdrew the threat.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksander Kozhukhar; Editing by Chris Reese and Andrew Cawthorne)
