 Prigozin wants 200,000 troops from Moscow. The mercenary Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozin has called on Moscow to provide him with 200,000 troops in order to halt the long-promised Ukrainian counter-offensive as assaults by Kiev troops reportedly pushed past Russian defensive lines and made ground around the devastated Donetsk city of Bakhmut. Prigozin said that his Wagner organization is the only armed force capable of stopping the Ukrainian attack. Each official in Russia and the West say may have now begun. I need 200,000 people, Prigozin said, as quoted in an article by the Moscow Times. Less than 200,000 on the Luhansk-Donetsk frontline will not cope. We are ready to take full responsibility. Prigozin urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to announce a full national mobilization to expand its military forces, though added that without an adequate three-month training window, these newly raised units would be cannon fodder. Wagner tactics have reportedly relied heavily on such fodder in Bakhmut. Ukrainian forces, Prigozin said, have already broken through the lines of defense in several areas. Near Bakhmut, in three places, in Toretsk, there is a large accumulation and soon they will begin to cut Kurdiyumovka and Ozarianovka. The Belgorod region is bursting at the seams. In Zaporizia, they lost the most serious settlement. Now they will hit the North and South in the Donetsk direction and there will be no time. Aviation will not save the situation. Prigozin again hit out at the Russian Defense Ministry. There is no management. There is no planning. There is no preparation. There is no mutual respect, he said. And then all this is replaced by tantrums at the top. We will now suffer serious losses. I am absolutely sure of this. We will certainly lose part of the territories. The southern front line south of Zaporizia has been touted as one of the most likely locations for the expected Ukrainian counter. If Ukrainian troops can break Russian lines there, they could drive south to liberate Militopol and onto the sea of the Azov coast, severing Moscow's land bridge to Crimea. The situation in this area, Prigozin said, is a catastrophe. He added, Novo Donetskoy has already been taken and if the troops retreat further to a depth of 5 to 8 kilometers, this means that then there will be an uncontrolled entry of the enemy. We understand that at least another 50% of the inhabitants of this territory will help the armed forces of Ukraine. Therefore, as soon as they go a little deeper, then they will go to Burdiansk and Mariapol and it will be impossible to stop them.