The head of the Lugansk OVA, Sergei Gaidai, said that the Russian military is losing thousands of its soldiers near Bakhmut. During the telethon, he noted that the Wagnerites and Kadyrovites are the main forces there, they are trying to prove to President Vladimir Putin that they are capable of something..

“As for Bakhmut, this is no longer even in a strategic military plan, although there is such a thing, but more symbolism, which the Kremlin regime loves very much,” Gaidai said.. “But while they are losing thousands of their soldiers there, who remain there for life.”.

The head of the Lugansk OVA noted that the Russians still want to reach the borders of the Lugansk and Donetsk regions.

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Recall that the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Kirill Budanov, said that the Wagnerites so badly want to capture the city of Bakhmut due to the fact that the owner of their PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin and the commander of Russian troops in Ukraine Sergey Surovikin entered into an alliance. Now these two want to prove their strength. But Budanov noted that although the occupation of the city could improve enemy positions and open the way for the Russian Federation to other cities of Donbass, this operation is not strategically important..