IntelBrief: Wagner Group Preparing to Exit Bakhmut as Uncertainty Surrounds Prighozin’s Next Move

Bottom Line Up Front 

• Yevgeny Prigozhin, millionaire head of the Russian private military company the Wagner Group, has announced that they will hand over the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut as of today, June 1st.
• Bakhmut was not an early operational objective for Russia but became a political, as much as operational, objective by Fall 2022 and served as a focal point for Wagner’s frontline efforts, often leading to a tense relationship with the Kremlin.
• The year-long battle in Bakhmut has also changed the qualitative nature of the Wagner Group, from an elite fighting force to untrained convicts serving as cannon fodder. An estimated 20,000 Wagner fighters have died in Bakhmut.
• Russian control of Bakhmut comes as the long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive reportedly approaches and drone attacks target Moscow, including an exclusive suburb home to elite political and cultural figures.