By KYIV. May 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Wagner Group financier Yevgeniy Prigozhin offered to disclose the locations of Russian positions to Ukrainian intelligence in exchange for Bakhmut, Donetsk region, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said in its assessment of the Russian offensive campaign as of May 15, with a reference to leaked U.S. intelligence.
“GUR [the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine] officials reportedly rejected Prigozhin’s offer because they did not trust Prigozhin, and some documents indicate that Kyiv suspects that the Kremlin is aware of Prigozhin’s communication with Ukrainian intelligence,” the ISW said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not confirm Ukraine’s contacts with Prigozhin.
“The reports of Prigozhin’s offers to cooperate with Ukrainian intelligence triggered a mixed response within Russia. […] Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the allegations on May 15 and stated that, although he cannot comment on the information, it ‘looks like yet another hoax.’ […] State Duma Parliamentarian Viktor Sobolev warned that mobilized servicemen who decide to join the ranks of Wagner private military company (PMC) will face 10 to 15 years in prison because Wagner is an illegal armed formation within Russia,” says the report.
Select Russian officials have previously called for the censorship of Telegram and the milbloggers, although ISW assesses that Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to approve such a measure because the Kremlin is attempting to use the wider ultranationalist community’s established networks to recruit volunteers and generate social support for the war.
At the same time, the Kremlin has reportedly banned high-ranking officials from resigning during the war in Ukraine, likely in an attempt to maintain stability within domestic security organs, government bodies, and the Russian military command.
According to the ISW, Ukrainian officials acknowledged limited Ukrainian battlefield successes during recent localized counterattacks in and around Bakhmut. Russian forces continued to launch ground assaults in and around Bakhmut and conducted limited offensive operations near Donetsk City.
Russian sources claimed that Russian forces captured Masiutivka, Kharkiv region, and established a bridgehead on the west bank of the Oskil River, but ISW has observed no visual confirmation of these claims.
