Head of Russian mercenary group warns Bakhmut may fall to Ukraine: Live updates

Whether it's mere rabble-rousing or a genuine warning, Yevgeny Prigozhin is making lots of noise about Russia's standing in the war with Ukraine and especially the battle over Bakhmut.

The head of the Wagner private military company has in recent days threatened to pull his fighters from the fiercely contested eastern city, claimed he was threatened with being branded a traitor if he did so, and now says his forces may lose Bakhmut even though Ukraine only occupies 5% of it.

"There is a serious risk of encirclement of PMC 'Wagner' in Bakhmut as a result of the failure of the flanks. The flanks are already cracking and falling through,'' Prigozhin said in a posting from his Concord company Wednesday. He once again complained the Russian military is not providing his mercenary group enough ammunition, and said if that were to continue, "the Armed Forces of Ukraine will destroy PMC "Wagner."

The once-vaunted Russian military has not claimed a significant battlefield victory in several months and was embarrassed by having to retreat from the Kharkiv province and the city of Kherson in the last four months of last year. A defeat in Bakhmut, where Moscow has already sacrificed thousands of lives and an untold amount of equipment, would be a major psychological blow.

Still, there's plenty of skepticism about Prigozhin's blustery remarks. The Kremlin said Wednesday it had not seen his critical video posting from the previous day, and Ukrainian military spokesman Serhiy Cherevatyi said Russia is still actively engaged in trying to capture Bakhmut.

"The situation remains difficult because for the enemy, despite all the white noise Prigozhin is trying to create, it (Bakhmut) is (still) the main direction of attack," Cherevatyi said on television.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War questioned Prigozhin's motives, saying about his threat to pull out of Bakhmut:

"Prigozhin attempted to blackmail the Russian MoD (Ministry of Defense) into reprioritizing the Bakhmut offensive so he could independently claim victory in the city at the expense of the Russian military’s likely preparations ahead of the planned Ukrainian counteroffensive.''

Developments:

◾ The Justice Department announced Wednesday the first transfer of assets forfeited from a sanctioned Russian oligarch − millions of dollars from Konstantin Malofeyev − to Ukraine for use in its reconstruction. "It will not be the last (transfer),” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

◾ Visual journalist Arman Soldin was killed by a rocket strike as he reported with Agence France-Presse colleagues from Ukrainian positions in Chasiv Yar, the news agency said. AFP said it was “devastated” by Soldin’s death.

◾ Russia is considering "retaliatory measures" in response to a U.S. refusal to issue visas to Russian journalists for Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's trip to New York to attend U.N. Security Council meetings last month, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Tuesday.

◾ The governor of Russia's Voronezh region bordering Ukraine said two Ukrainian drones attacked a military training ground in his region overnight. The Russian media outlet Baza reported 14 soldiers were injured.

UK considers giving Ukraine long-range missiles 

British officials have asked defense contractors about supplying Ukraine with missiles with a range of almost 200 miles in what would be a step up in military support for Kyiv.

The call for responses from companies was included in a notice posted by the International Fund for Ukraine, a multinational funding mechanism for providing weapons to the Ukraine military. Britain's Ministry of Defense, which administers the fund, asked companies to reach out if they could provide missiles that can be launched from land, sea or air. The missiles have about the same range as the Army Tactical Missile System, ATACMS, that Washington has refused to provide.

Politico reports that the Biden administration has no plans to follow Britain’s lead, "with some officials saying the U.S. is now off the hook thanks to the U.K.’s planned delivery." Politico cites multiple administration officials it did not name.

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that aside from an uptick in weaponry, the U.S. has few of the missiles to spare.

One-tank Victory Day parade a sign of war's impact on Russian military

Tuesday's Victory Day parade in Moscow's Red Square reflected some of the difficulties the war has created for the Russian military, whose presence in both personnel and equipment was considerably reduced in this year's celebration, the British Defense Ministry said.

Besides the limited number of troops from regular forces, the ministry noted there was only one tank at the parade, a major departure from years past, when dozens of modern tanks would be showcased.

"Despite heavy losses in Ukraine, Russia could have fielded more armored vehicles,'' the ministry said. "The authorities likely refrained from doing so because they want to avoid domestic criticism about prioritizing parades over combat operations.''

Ukraine nuke plant facing 'catastrophic' lack of staff

Russia plans to relocate more than 3,000 Ukrainian staff from the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia and leave Europe’s largest nuclear facility with a "catastrophic lack of qualified personnel," Ukraine’s atomic energy company warned Wednesday.

Energoatom said that even those Ukrainian workers forced to sign "shameful" contracts are being evacuated, which makes the plant unsafe even though it is not operating.

"The fastest possible de-occupation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the expulsion of the (Russians) and the transfer of control over the power plant to its legitimate Ukrainian operator, Energoatom, is the only way to end the Russian mess at the ZNPP and guarantee its future safety," Energoatom said in a statement.

A Russian-appointed deputy prime minister of the region, Andrey Kozenko, said as many as 70,000 civilians will be voluntarily moved out of the region because of risks from artillery shelling. Ukraine’s National Resistance Center says Russian-installed officials are shutting down schools, preparing buses and appointing officials to oversee the evacuation.

Ukrainian authorities blame Moscow for the strikes and say Moscow's goal is to move people deeper into Russian-controlled Ukraine and Russia itself.

Kremlin deflects questions on mercenary leader's harsh criticism

Kremlin officials have not yet viewed the scathing video posted on social media Tuesday by Wagner mercenary group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday. Prigozhin said his troops have still not been given desperately needed ammunition requested from Russia's defense ministry.

The Wagner boss said he might need to remove his troops because of the shortage − and was told it would be considered treason. But Prigozhin said some Russian troops actually fled positions near Bakhmut, a claim later corroborated by Ukraine's military, which claimed it had advanced in the area.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine, Russia live updates: Bakhmut may fall, mercenary boss says