Wagner group appears to U-turn on Bakhmut withdrawal threat

UN warns of ‘very real nuclear safety risk’ at Zaporizhzhia power plant

Russia’s Wagner group appeared to climb down on its threat to withdraw from Bakhmut on Sunday after being promised more weapons – as the UN’s nuclear watchdog warned it was “extremely concerned” about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia power plant.

The mercenary group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Friday that his fighters, who have spearheaded a months-long assault on the eastern Ukraine city, would pull out after being starved of ammunition and suffering “useless and unjustified” losses.

But in an audio message posted on his Telegram channel on Sunday, he said: “We have been promised as much ammunition and weapons as we need to continue further operations. We have been promised that everything needed to prevent the enemy from cutting us off [from supplies] will be deployed.”