Wagner Boss Praises Ukraine's Counteroffensive

Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin on Tuesday appeared to praise Ukraine's counteroffensive, which has seen Kyiv recapture at least seven settlements in the space of a week.

Twitter user Dmitri is from War Translated, an independent project concerned with translating various materials about the war in Ukraine. He uploaded the clip of Prigozhin offering his assessment of the counteroffensive so far, writing: "Prigozhin gathered another meeting to discuss the current state of events, said the Ukrainian offensive is moving competently and carefully, not enough is being done to stop them."

Ukraine's counteroffensive, while in its very early stages, appears to have had considerable success, according to Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malia. She said Monday that, in the past week, Ukraine has recaptured seven villages spanning 90 square kilometers (35 square miles).

"The following is happening: Ukrainians began an offensive. I'm saying all as it is. With the offensive, they are moving precisely. Doing everything right," said Prigozhin, leader of the Russian paramitliary outfit the Wagner Group.

"They're cutting off certain areas in the Zaporizhzhia direction. Meanwhile, they're covering their left flank... right for us, left for them. Exactly where the battles are taking place, Urozhaine and so on. They're covering their left flank."

Prigozhin said that, according to his estimates, Ukraine has managed to recapture from Russian forces more than 100 square kilometers (39 square miles).

"They're moving carefully, calmly. They lost a couple of Leopards and Bradleys [fighting vehciles]. These are routine combat losses, so I'm not saying this to promote them, but to judge sensibly," Prigozhin added.

Russia said Tuesday that it had captured a number of U.S. Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and German Leopard tanks that the West had provided for Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

"Leopard tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. These are our trophies. Equipment of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Zaporizhzhia region," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Prigozhin said he believes it's "early to celebrate" and that more must be done to stop Ukraine.

"We need to mobilize, get together, and understand that they won't stop until they either get beaten or get some sort of positive result," Prigozhin added. "For now, in my view, and according to the valuation of the military on the ground, not enough is being done to counter the enemy."

His comments stand in stark contrast to Russian President Vladimir Putin's, who told a meeting of war correspondents on Tuesday that Ukraine's counteroffensive has been unsuccessful. Putin added that it had suffered "catastrophic" losses.

In a nightly video address on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described battles between his troops and Russian forces as "tough."

"But our movement is there, and that is very important," he said.

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