Prigozhin is incredibly eager to leave Bakhmut, as he realizes Wagner will suffer bloody defeat - AFU

Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for the Eastern Grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, shared his opinions in an interview with RBC-Ukraine. 

According to him, Prigozhin really wants to withdraw Wagner PMC from Bakhmut on May 25 to save the remnants of the mercenaries after heavy losses in the battles for the city in the Donetsk region. 

"Prigozhin is incredibly eager to leave. He wants to save the remnants of his personnel and reputation. He realizes that they will face a bloody defeat there," Cherevatyi said. 

He noted that Prigozhin is not a military man, but an venturesome businessman, but he also saw what the commander of the Land Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, did in the Kharkiv region when the regular army of the Russian Federation ran away wherever they could." 

"He is aware of what the commander can organize next for Wagner. Prigozhin is well aware that sooner or later, most likely sooner, he will be smashed to pieces. Therefore, in my opinion, his statement is dictated by this fear and understanding of his prospects," Cherevatyi explained. 

The Ukrainian Armed Forces colonel added that he had a discussion with Prigozhin in absentia a month and a half ago. 

"I told him that if the trend of such losses continues and he is not allowed to recruit in prisons, Bakhmut will become Wagner's last frontier. After that, he filmed a video on the outskirts of Bakhmut near their T-34 tank, in which he called me "General Cherevatyi" and said that I was saying everything wrong," Cherevatyi said. 

He continued that just a month later, Prigozhin himself started talking about losses and threatened to leave the position on May 10. 

"In other words, he was looking for any excuse to leave the positions. And now he has come up with such a noble reason: "We have won and are leaving on a high note, and you continue our work," Cherevatyi said. 

At the same time, he suggested that the Russian leadership would make every effort to prevent Wagner from leaving Bakhmut. 

"I think every effort will be made to prevent them from doing so. This is my forecast," Cherevatyi summarized. 

• On May 22, the Institute for the Study of War predicted that due to exhaustion from fighting for many months, Wagner's PMC would not be able to continue operations outside of Bakhmut.