Prigozhin said that Wagner's men clashed with the Russian army

The owner of the private military company Wagner, Yevhen Prygozhyn, said that his mercenaries had fought with the Russian regular army on May 17 during the retreat from Bakhmut because it was mining the escape routes.

This was reported by Ukrinform with reference to a report published by the terrorists' press service on Telegram.

The mercenaries allegedly spotted Russian Defense Ministry "groups" near the villages of Opytne and Ozaryanivka near Bakhmut, which were mining roads in the rear zone of the Wagnerites.

The sappers from the PMC were allegedly sent there to find the mines and begin demining. However, they were later forced to stop the work because they were fired upon with small arms "from the positions of the Russian Ministry of Defense."

Prigozhin claims that Russian soldiers hit the engine of the Ural truck, which disabled it.

After that, he said, the Wagnerites got out of the vehicle and "dispersed, took retaliatory measures to eliminate the danger and detain them."

According to Prigozhin, the detained Russian servicemen include the commander of the 72nd separate motorized rifle brigade, a lieutenant colonel, who "was in a state of intoxication."

Later, Prigozhin's press service published an interrogation of this lieutenant colonel. In the video, he states that he fired at the car "out of personal animosity" toward the Wagner PMC.

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 06/06/2023