Wagner boss doubts Russian Defense Ministry's statement

Boss Wagner Prigozhin said the Russian Defense Ministry 's statement about stopping another major Ukrainian counter-offensive was "fantasy and absurd".

"To destroy so many soldiers, it would be necessary to advance 150 kilometers per day. Therefore, I believe that this is just science fiction, fantasy and nonsense," Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian private security group Wagner, posted on Telegram on June 6.

Prigozhin's comments referred to an earlier statement by the Russian Defense Ministry that its forces had stopped another major Ukrainian counteroffensive on the southern Donetsk front, destroying more than 1,500 soldiers, 28 tanks, including Western-supplied Leopards and AMX-10RCs, and 109 armored vehicles.

"If the figures provided by the Ministry of Defense are correct, we have already destroyed the entire planet five times," Prigozhin sarcastically said.

The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet commented on Wagner's comments.

Members of the Wagner group raise the Russian flag and the Wagner flag on an undisclosed ruined building in a video released on May 20. Photo: Reuters

Prigozhin said on June 5 that Ukrainian forces had recaptured part of the village of Berkhivka, north of the city of Bakhmut. "The army is quietly fleeing. It's a disgrace!" Prigozhin said, urging Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov to go to the front line to bolster morale.

Prigozhin has repeatedly criticized the Russian Defense Ministry over the war in Ukraine, accusing Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov of failing to provide Wagner with enough ammunition and support on the battlefield, causing the force to suffer unnecessary heavy losses.

Ukraine has not yet responded to information from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Ukrainian officials have previously denied any information about the alleged Russian counter-offensive, and have avoided questions about it. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has urged the public to keep information about the military under wraps, saying that "the start date of the counter-offensive will not be announced."

Huyen Le (According to Reuters )

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