Wagner boss shares cockpit video, challenges Ukraine's Zelensky to aerial duel
Yevgeny Prigozhin
Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is the head of Russia's mercenary group Wagner, claimed on Monday (February 6) that he was on a fighter jet that had bombed Bakhmut, which has become the epicentre of fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Prigozhin posted an undated video of himself in the cockpit of a military aircraft and challenged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to an aerial duel.
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News agencies reported that the Wagner boss appeared inside a plane flying in darkness. He was seen wearing a helmet and a pilot mask in a video on social media. The businessman, who is a close Kremlin ally, said: "We are landing, we bombed Bakhmut."
The video was posted by Prigozhin's press service. The clip claimed that it was filmed aboard a Su-24 bomber plane operated by Wagner.
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Disclaimer: WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of photos and videos shared on social media.
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Prigozhin said: "If you have the will, we will meet in the skies. If you win, you will take Artemovsk (the Russian name for Bakhmut), if not, we will go until the Dnipro (River)."
The fighting has been intensifying in the Bakhmut region with Zelensky saying that the Ukrainian forces are "reacting" to Russia encircling Bakhmut.
Meanwhile, on Monday, a resolution was adopted by the Ukrainian parliament to Wagner as a terrorist organisation. "We are preparing to destroy Wagner as a component of international terrorism," Andriy Yermak, who is the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, said, adding that the recognition was a "step towards bringing them (Wagner) to justice."
(With inputs from agencies)
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