Wagner Leader Admits to Struggles in Bakhmut as Reputation Hangs by Thread

The head of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group admitted in a new interview that progress has been slow and grinding as his forces work to capture Bakhmut, an embattled city in eastern Ukraine.

In an interview published Tuesday by the Russian state media outlet Ria Novosti, Yevgeny Prigozhin said that there is a "fortress in every house" in Bakhmut. The fight to take each house can sometimes last for more than a day or even weeks, Prigozhin said.

And once each "fortress" has been captured, another is already in place behind it.

"Today, in the morning, I took one house and broke through the defenses. And behind this house, there is still a new defense, and not just one," Prigozhin told Ria Novosti, according to an English translation of his comments. "And how many such lines of defense are there in [Bakhmut]? If we say 500, we probably won't be mistaken."

Prigozhin's remarks on these layered lines of Ukrainian defenses around Bakhmut provide more insight into Russia's struggles to claim the city in the eastern Donetsk region. Russia has been trying to capture Bakhmut for months, depleting supplies and personnel in the process. Forces aligned with the Wagner Group have reportedly been playing a key role in the Bakhmut assault.

Retired U.S. Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, who formerly served as the commanding general of the U.S. Army Europe, told Newsweek that the credibility of Prigozhin and the Wagner Group is at stake in the Bakhmut battle. If the forces are ultimately forced to withdraw from Bakhmut or end their effort there, Hodges said, this will be a "blow" to Prigozhin's prestige and "psychologically" damaging to the Russians overall.

It remains unclear if victory in Bakhmut is possible for Russia at this point. Russia has reportedly made some marginal gains around Bakhmut in recent weeks, the Institute for the Study of War wrote in a campaign assessment last week that the Bakhmut offensive is likely "culminating."

"U.S. military doctrine defines culmination as the 'point at which a force no longer has the capability to continue its form of operations, offense or defense,' and 'when a force cannot continue the attack and must assume a defensive posture or execute an operational pause,'" the ISW wrote in the assessment.

If Russian forces in Bakhmut have culminated, they may continue their attacks against the city all the same, though such assaults "would be very unlikely to make operationally significant gains," the ISW wrote.

Even if Russia does ultimately seize Bakhmut, experts don't believe the city will offer much of a strategic or tactical benefit for Russian or Russian-aligned forces. But after Russia has faced several high-profile setbacks in recent months, such as its retreat from the southern city of Kherson in October, taking Bakhmut could be symbolic for Russian President Vladimir Putin so he can show some type of military victory.

Newsweek reached out to Russia's Defense Ministry for comment.