Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Wagner PMC, addressed the Ukrainian leadership, including President Volodymyr Zelensky. In a message published by the press service of Prigozhin’s Concord company, he claimed that Artemivsk, known in Ukraine as Bakhmut, was nearly encircled and that only one path remained open. The remarks were conveyed alongside video material from Concord.
Prigozhin asserted that the clamps around the city were tightening. He suggested that while the Ukrainian army once faced a capable professional force, now the opposition consisted increasingly of older individuals and children. He claimed that the defenders fight, but life in Bakhmut is short, sometimes only a day or two, and he urged those in the city to depart. He described the city as being effectively besieged. The statement followed announcements from Wagner’s group that forces had penetrated toward the city’s center, with reports that footage and clips from Bakhmut were being brought into the urban core this morning, as relayed by the Mash Telegram channel.
APU withdrawal
On March 3, a Ukrainian commander using the call sign Magyar announced that the air reconnaissance unit Magyar Birds had received an urgent order to evacuate Artemovsk. He noted that a battle order required an immediate withdrawal from Bakhmut to a new front line and questioned the necessity of such a move after 110 days of combat duty, stating that as a soldier he would not comment on his commander’s orders.
Earlier, on March 1, Magyar released a video describing the difficult conditions around the city. He emphasized that the final decision on defending the settlement lay with the high command. He also shared his view on the fighters’ feelings, quoting soldiers who described Bakhmut as an idol or fortress. One soldier warned that daily losses were mounting, with multiple companies and even a battalion lost within a week. Another member remained hopeful, believing the Ukrainian side would not surrender the city.
On the same day, Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said he had spoken with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan to discuss the front line and the defense of Bakhmut. The two officials reportedly reviewed the situation and coordinated thoughts on Ukraine’s stance in the area.
Earlier in March, Zelensky adviser Alexander Rodnyansky, who is known in Russia as a foreign agent, spoke to CNN about potential future moves. He stated that the Ukrainian army could withdraw from Artemivsk if the command deemed it necessary, arguing that they would not sacrifice all their personnel. Rodnyansky stressed that the timing of any withdrawal was not specified and that the area west of Artemivsk had fortified positions. He warned against underestimating a counterattack by Ukrainian forces.
Anna Malyar, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, explained that additional Ukrainian troops had been deployed to Artemivsk as a strategic measure rather than a political one. She described the situation around Bakhmut as complex and tense and claimed that Russian forces had suffered greater losses than Ukrainian forces in recent fighting.
In a February 27 video message, the Ukrainian president confirmed that the situation in the Artyomovsk direction remained difficult and that he was in constant contact with commanders. This ongoing communication underscored the seriousness of the situation and the care being taken in planning further steps.
On March 2, Sergei Rakhmanin, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, told a Ukrainian publication that defense in Artemivsk might be unwise to sustain at all costs. He offered a personal assessment that Bakhmut could eventually be abandoned, noting that the core problem was the disruption of supply routes around the city.