Ukraine Targets Russian Ammunition Depots as Wagner Group Advance Stalls

Ukrainian forces are targeting Russian ammunition depots in the city of Bakhmut as the Wagner Group's advance in the embattled region stalls.

Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for Ukraine's armed forces, was cited by Ukrainian news outlet Ukrinform as saying on television that two ammunition depots were destroyed in the Bakhmut area on Wednesday.

"Our rocket forces and artillery hit different targets, first of all, large concentrations of the enemy, personnel, as was the case this time, equipment, as well as warehouses with weapons, ammunition, and fuel," Cherevaty said.

He added: "Today, two warehouses with ammunition were destroyed in the Bakhmut area, one in the Avdiivka area and another in the Lyman area."

Bakhmut, located in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, is one of the most intense spots of fighting in the war, and Russian forces in the region are being led by members of a notorious paramilitary unit, the Wagner Group. The unit was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Prigozhin admitted in an interview with Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti published Tuesday that progress has been slow and grinding as his forces work to capture Bakhmut.

There is a "fortress in every house" in Bakhmut, he said, adding that efforts to take each house can sometimes last weeks. And once each "fortress" has been captured, another is already in place behind it.

"Today, in the morning, I took one house and broke through the defenses. And behind this house, there is still a new defense, and not just one," Prigozhin said. "And how many such lines of defense are there in [Bakhmut]? If we say 500, we probably won't be mistaken."

Britain's Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that over the last 10 days, Ukraine has committed significant reinforcements to defend Bakhmut. The ministry noted that while infantry assaults by the Russian military and the Wagner Group increased in frequency in mid-December, these operations were "poorly supported."

"It is unlikely Russia will achieve a significant breakthrough near Bakhmut in the coming weeks," the ministry said.

The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. think tank, quoted Prigozhin on Monday as saying that Ukrainian forces have heavily fortified the residential area around Bakhmut so there is a new line of defense "every 10 meters."

"This is a significant inflection for Prigozhin and the first time he has framed Wagner forces in Bakhmut as making effectively no gains," the ISW said in a Tuesday update.

The ISW assessed that Prigozhin is likely setting information conditions to blame Wagner Group's failure to take Bakhmut on the Russian Ministry of Defense or the Russian industrial base.

Newsweek reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment.

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