If all is going so well for Russians (according to plan that 5 months later , they MAY have a chance at a victory of a town thats destroyed and 90% of its population left, and Russians have unbelievable industrial capacity , and will teach Europeans a lesson, THAN WHY is there public infighting. I don't think there is a military in recent memory that publicly humiliates its own forces but with Russia anything is possible.
Ukraine said on Monday its troops were still fighting against the attempted encirclement of Bakhmut, while Washington said that even if the eastern city should fall to Russia's offensive, it would not necessarily give Moscow momentum in the war.
www.reuters.com
WAGNER ACCUSATIONS
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner boss who sent tens of thousands of convicts recruited from Russian prisons into battle around Bakhmut, issued the latest in a barrage of statements that have deepened his rift with Russia's top brass.
[1/5] A Ukrainian serviceman stands near a mortar on a front line, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, near the front line city of Bakhmut, Ukraine March 6, 2023. REUTERS/Anna Kudriavtseva
Prigozhin said he had written a letter on Sunday to the commander of the Ukraine campaign "about the urgent need to allocate ammunition". On Monday morning he said his representative at operational headquarters had his pass cancelled and had been denied access.
There was no immediate response from the Russian Ministry of Defence. Since the start of this year, the Ukraine campaign has been commanded personally by Russia's top general, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
Prigozhin claimed last week that his men had practically surrounded Bakhmut. But on Saturday he appeared in a video with a gloomier assessment, warning that the front would collapse should Wagner be forced to retreat - although it was not clear when the video was recorded.
He has accused ministry officials of "treason" for failing to supply adequate ammunition to his forces, something the ministry has denied.
A spokesman for Ukraine's 10th assault brigade, Mykyta Shandyba, told Ukrainian television "it was clear" Russian forces faced a shortage of ammunition that had limited their advances in Bakhmut.
However, he said Russia's attacks had intensified in recent days, with groups of 30 people trying to break through Ukrainian defence lines.
"They failed so far," he said.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who has kept a low profile for most of the war, has been on a rare visit to his forces in Ukraine in recent days, awarding medals and meeting commanders. On Monday, he visited the eastern city of Mariupol, largely destroyed by Russian forces last year after a months-long siege.
CULMINATION POINT
After losing ground throughout the second half of 2022, Russia launched a winter offensive of intense trench warfare, making use of hundreds of thousands of reservists called up late last year.
Apart from Bakhmut, Russia's offensive has produced no notable gains, failing to seize ground in Luhansk province further north and taking heavy losses in particular around Vuhledar to the south.
Kyiv, for its part, has focused mainly on defence for the last three months, trying to inflict high casualties while preparing for a counter-offensive when new weapons arrive and the muddy ground dries out.
The Institute for War Studies think-tank said it was still not clear whether Ukraine would pull out of Bakhmut or stay on to continue wearing down the Russian force. Either way, Moscow's offensive appeared to be reaching its high-water mark.
"The likely imminent culmination of the Russian offensive around Bakhmut before or after its fall, the already culminated Russian offensive around Vuhledar, and the stalling Russian offensive in Luhansk Oblast are likely setting robust conditions for a future Ukrainian counteroffensive," its researchers wrote.