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Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s Wagner Group mercenary group, boards a fighter jet and bombards the town of Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine. Photo/Screenshot video of Twitter @francis_scarr
BAKHMUT – Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group mercenary group Russia showing a video showing him boarding a Su-24 fighter jet and bombarding the town of Bakhmut, east Ukraine .
In videos posted to social media on Monday, Prigozhin appears to be inside a fighter plane flying in the dark, wearing a pilot’s helmet and mask.
“We landed, we bombed Bakhmut,” said the businessman who is also a Kremlin ally, as quoted by The Moscow Times, Tuesday (7/2/2023).
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Prigozhin also challenged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to fight him in the skies over Bakhmut, saying he would board a MiG-29 fighter the next day.
“If you have the will, we will meet in the sky. If you win, you will take Artemovsk (Russian name for Bakhmut), otherwise we will go as far as the Dnipro (River),” said Prigozhin.
Earlier on Monday, Ukraine’s Parliament adopted a resolution condemning Wagner, whose mercenaries are fighting alongside Russian forces, as a terrorist organization.
“We are preparing to destroy Wagner as a component of international terrorism,” said the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriy Yermak.
He said the confession was “a step towards bringing Wagner to justice.”
Wagner Group mercenaries took part in Moscow’s assault on Bakhmut, which the Russians had been trying to take for months, with heavy losses on both sides.
Ukraine’s defenses in the area have been weakened by recent Russian territorial gains, particularly the northern town of Soledar.
Zelensky, on Saturday last week, vowed to fight for Bakhmut.
Prigozhin added that heavy fighting was fought on every street.
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