Wagner head denies offering Russian positions in exchange for Ukrainian withdrawal from Bakhmut

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - The head of the Wagner paramilitary group denied claims that he offered the location of Russian positions in a hard-fought city in the eastern Donetsk region in exchange for the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces there.

The Washington Post reported on Sunday that Yevgeny Prigozhin offered to Kyiv in January to reveal Russian positions in Bakhmut if they withdrew Ukrainian forces. The offer, reportedly made through Ukrainian intelligence – which Prigozhin sometimes met with in Africa – was rejected as it was seen as “a trap,” the paper reported.

But Prigozhin shot back on Monday: “I haven’t been in Africa at least since the beginning of the conflict, but in fact a few months before the start of the special military operation, so I simply couldn’t physically meet anyone there.”

In an audio message on Telegram, Prigozhin said that either journalists were making things up to attract readers or it was “comrades from Rublyovka” – a Moscow neighborhood known where many Russian elites live – that made up the claims.

In a later statement, Prigozhin also downplayed any contacts with Ukrainian intelligence officers: “Of course, in any war, exchanges are made, and this is not a secret for the warring parties. But fellow journalists from The Washington Post do not need to know this at all.”

Prigozhin added that the location of Russian troops is not secret due to images taken by satellites.

The people who claim his “alleged interaction” with Ukrainian intelligence “have little knowledge of how the war is going on,” he said.

Russian forces have been trying for months to capture Bakhmut, a transport and logistics hub in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, which is part of the largely Russian-speaking industrialized Donbas region.​​​​​​​ Prigozhin has publicly feuded with Moscow about getting more supplies for waging the conflict.