Russia-Ukraine war: Wagner chief says he wants Bakhmut captured over 'underground cities'

The war Russia is waging on Ukraine is close to its 11th month, with heavy fighting taking place in the Donetsk region. The leader of the Russian Wagner mercenary group said capturing Bakhmut is significant for the city’s underground.

Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said Saturday that capturing the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is important. The Wagner group is currently on the frontlines in the city where fighting has been taking place. Prigozhin, who is currently sanctioned by the West, cited the underground complexes in Bakhmut that can store weapons and tanks as the reason why capturing Bakhmut is important.

“The cherry on the cake is the system of Soledar and Bakhmut mines, which is actually a network of underground cities. It not only (has the ability to hold) a big group of people at a depth of 80 to 100 meters, but tanks and infantry fighting vehicles can also move about,” said Prigozhin in comments on the Wagner group’s Telegram messaging platform.

Prigozhin added that stockpiles of weapons were stored in the underground complexes in Bakhmut since World War One. Prigozhin also said he wanted Bakhmut as it served as “a serious logistics center” with defensive fortifications.

Thursday last week, a White House official said Washington believed Prigozhin wanted to capture Bakhmut in order to take control of its salt and gypsum mines for commercial gain but did not mention its military use.

On Sunday, the British defense ministry said Russian forces had reinforced their defenses in the occupied Zaporizhzhia area in southern Ukraine. In its intelligence bulletin, the ministry said the defenses were specially reinforced in between the towns of Vasilyvka and Orikhiv, in which Russia maintains a large unit.

“The way Russia has worked on improving defenses suggests commanders are highly likely pre-occupied with the potential for major Ukrainian offensive action in two sectors: either in northern Luhansk Oblast or in Zaporizhzhia,” said the ministry.

The ministry added that should Ukraine make a significant advance in Zaporizhzhia, this would challenge “the viability of Russia’s ‘land bridge’” that connects Russia’s Rostov region to the annexed Crimean peninsula. The ministry also said that should Ukraine succeed in Luhansk, it would also further undermine Moscow’s so-called war aim of “liberating” the Donbas region.