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- A White Dwelling formal instructed Reuters that the head of Wagner Group wants salt and gypsum from Bakhmut.
- This could make clear Russia and Yevgeny Prigozhin’s “obsession” with seizing the town.
- Prigozhin denied that he was fascinated in the city’s mineral deposits on Telegram.
The US thinks that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the mercenary Wagner Team, wishes useful salt and gypsum from mines near Bakhmut in Ukraine, a White Dwelling formal claimed.
The formal explained to Reuters on Thursday that the money motive could explain Russia’s and Prigozhin’s “obsession” with the city of Bakhmut, the place brutal preventing has raged in current months.
Mercenaries from Wagner Team, the non-public paramilitary group, have been battling on the front traces in Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, alongside with Russian armed forces.
The fighting has been described as a “meat grinder” since of the higher figures of fatalities on equally sides, whilst specific figures are not known.
Though capturing Bakhmut would help Russia accomplish its intention of using extra regulate of the Donbas area, some analysts have famous that the city features very little strategic advantage.
The drive to seize the city’s natural means could assist reveal why Russian forces have concentrated so considerably of their endeavours there.
The Wagner Team has compensated a bloody value in the combating about Bakhmut. Far more than 1,000 were killed in action amongst late November and early December on your own, the US official mentioned on Thursday, per Reuters.
Bakhmut’s salt deposits are big and of the greatest purity. Prior to the war, visitors could pay a visit to the vast vaults, which incorporated a football field, a church, labyrinths, and a concert corridor.
The United States has previously accused Russian mercenaries of exploiting natural assets in African countries, together with the Central African Republic, Mali, and Sudan, to assist fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The Wagner Team, which is aligned with the Kremlin, has an lively presence in numerous African international locations. Russia turned down the accusations as “anti-Russian rage.”
Prigozhin denied on Telegram that he was interested in mineral deposits in Bakhmut and rather referenced well known historic battlefield victories.
“Bakhmut nowadays is the meeting location of two armies like Kulikovo, Borodino, and other historical illustrations where by a single military should demolish a further,” he mentioned on Telegram, according to The Telegraph. “And it appears to be to me that we are being productive.”
In September, video footage emerged of Prigozhin recruiting fighters from Russian prisons, promising them freedom if they fought in Ukraine.
The initial batch of previous convicts was freed this week following completing their assistance in Ukraine.
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