Moscow’s division deepen as Wagner chief claims Russian troops fled Bakhmut posts amid Ukrainian advances

The divisions between Wagner mercenary forces and Russian troops continue to deepen with chief Yevgeny Prigozhin suggesting that Russian forces abandoned their posts in Bakhmut exposing them to Ukrainian assault.

Priogzhin's claims of a Russian retreat were echoed by Ukraine's Third Assault Brigade, which said that forces from Russia's 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade fled Bakhmut Tuesday.  Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news.

"The Third Assault Brigade thanks you for publicizing our success at the front," the brigade said in a direct message to Prigozhin on Telegram, adding that "Wagnerites" were also among the troops that abandoned their posts

Prigozhin further warned that while brutal fighting continues to play out on the Bakhmut front, which Russia has failed to fully capture despite immense efforts over the last six months, Ukrainian forces are also regrouping in the Zaporizhzhia region – an area Western defense analysts say Kyiv needs to start ousting Russia from its borders.