Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s private military group “Wagner”, told Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in a message published Monday that the Ukrainian army is planning an imminent offensive aimed at separating the “Wagner” forces from the main strength of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.
In the message, published by Prigozhin’s media service, he said the “large-scale offensive” was planned for late March or early April.
He added, “I ask you to take all necessary measures to prevent the separation of the forces of the private military company Wagner from the basic forces of the Russian army, which leads to negative consequences for the special military operation.”
Prigozhin explained that he attached to the letter details of the Ukrainian plan and a proposal to confront it, without revealing these details or the proposal, nor did he reveal how he knew of Ukraine’s intentions.
According to Prigozhin, “Wagner” forces currently control 70 percent of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which they have been trying to seize since last summer in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.
In separate comments broadcast by a regional news channel on Telegram, Prigozhin said there was a “high probability” that the southern Russian city of Belgorod would be one of the targets of the next Ukrainian attack.
He provided no evidence to support his claim that Ukraine might launch a large-scale attack on a Russian city.
This is the first time that Prigozhin has published such correspondence between him and the Minister of Defense, who has been criticizing his administration of the war.
