Sharjah 24 – AFO: Russia's defence minister has inspected the frontline in east Ukraine, after the United States offered more support to Kyiv, whose forces are struggling in eastern Bakhmut.
Sergei Shoigu "inspected a command post on the front" in the direction of the southern Donetsk region, the defence ministry said, without specifying exactly where or when.
It put out a rare video of Shoigu travelling in a helicopter and talking to a soldier in front of damaged buildings.
The visit came with fighting ongoing around Bakhmut, in the longest battle of the invasion that has revealed rivalries between the conventional army and the Wagner paramilitary group.
Wagner chef Yevgeny Prigozhin said Friday his fighters had "practically encircled" Bakhmut, which has seen some of the fiercest fighting of the conflict.
Well-versed in social media, Prigozhin has for weeks been publicising the advances of his men towards the eastern city, whose symbolic importance outstrips any military significance.
Prigozhin regularly posts videos of himself alongside mercenaries, on the ground or even in a fighter jet, in contrast with Russian generals criticised for shirking the frontline.
In the latest video Friday, Prigozhin directly called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to abandon Bakhmut, which Russia is determined to seize as part of the wider aim of capturing the entire Donetsk region.
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