Wagner chief Prigozhin claims Russia killed 32,000 Ukrainian personnel in battle for Bakhmut and Soledar

At least 32,000 Ukrainian personnel were killed by Russian forces during the battle for the regions of Bakhmut and Soledar according to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner PMC.

According to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner PMC, Russian forces destroyed at least 32,000 Ukrainian troops in the battles from Bakhmut and Soledar. This astonishing claim was made by the chief of the notorious mercenary organisation on the Telegram channel of his Concodre press agency today, Thursday, April 13.

He was responding to a question posted on the message board by the MASH news outlet in relation to data revealed by the leaked Pentagon intelligence documents. It enquired:’ According to the data indicated in them the AFU irretrievable losses for the period of air defence were 16-17.5 thousand people. Do you consider this figure to be correct?’.

They added: ‘And could you give us an approximate figure for the number of losses of the Ukrainian units in the battles for Soledar and Bakhmut, in which the fighters of the Wagner PMC participated? Thank you’.

Prigozhin replied: ‘Today I was going to a meeting regarding the leaked American document, including the representatives of intelligence of the Wagner PMCs and analysts who deal with the US”.

“We draw the following conclusions: this document is the last ‘Nanaian-American warning’. It was deliberately thrown together in order to ask certain questions. I think that those colleagues who took part in the meeting with me will give a more detailed account of this in the near future”.

“Now for the dead and wounded. We began fighting on 19 March 2022. Since the first day of combat operations to date, our estimate of killed (by the units of the Wagner PMC) is only around 200 units, that is 38,000 killed (irrecoverable losses). Of which 32,000 account for Bakhmut, Soledar and the surrounding area during the blockade of Bakhmut”.

Bakhmut is located in the Kyiv-controlled part of the DPR and was an important transport hub for supplying the Ukrainian group of troops in the Donbas. Fierce battles have been ongoing for the city for several months. Earlier, Prigozhin said that more than 75 per cent of Bakhmut, including all administrative centres, were under the control of Russian forces.