The head of the private military organization "Wagner" Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted that the advance of the Russian army and mercenaries near Bakhmut was hindered by the very good defense of the city in the Donetsk region.

All about the topic:

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"When will you capture Artemovsk (Bakhmut - note ed.)?"

In Artemovsk, every house is a fortress.

People fight for every house, sometimes for more than a day, for weeks.

What does a defense breach mean?

Breaking through the defenses means: you captured a house today and broke through, and there is still a new line of defense behind these houses, right?" Prigozhin commented to his mercenaries, in footage on NEXTA television.

Members of "Wagner" killed a family of eight in Ukraine.

There are also children among the victims

“And it's not just one defense.

How many defense lines do we have here?

If you say 500, you probably won't be wrong.

Every 10 meters there is a defense line," says Putin's Cook, which is Prigozhin's nickname.

Bakhmut is the hot spot of the war right now.

At the end of last year, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky visited the city and congratulated the soldiers for their courage.

According to several assessments, including that of the Institute for the Study of War, the Russians have wasted their forces and cannot take the strategically important city.

Yevgeny #Prigozhin stated that the advance of the #Russian military and mercenaries near #Bakhmut was hindered by the good defense of the city.

British intelligence, meanwhile, states that the Russians will not be able to demonstrate any success near Bakhmut in the near future.

pic.twitter.com/m1liibtfFG

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) January 3, 2023

In its report on the war today, British intelligence said that over the past 10 days, the Ukrainians had significantly strengthened defenses near Bakhmut and the frequency of Russian shelling had decreased compared to its peak in mid-December.

Both sides suffered heavy losses.

"It is unlikely that Russia will achieve a significant breakthrough near Bakhmut in the coming weeks," concluded the intelligence unit of the Ministry of Defense in London.

Russian invasion of Ukraine