 Russian Defence Ministry admits their retreat north of Bakhmut, Wagner Group expects encirclement. The Russian Ministry of Defence has admitted their retreat from positions and to the north of Bakhmut, which allows Ukrainian troops to control the road to Chassiv-Yah. Igor Konashenkov, the representative of the Ministry of Defence of Russia, said it. Konashenkov, reporting on the successes of the Russian Army at the front, denied the information about the breakthrough of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Bakhmut, but admitted that the units had taken new frontiers. But Yevgeny Prigozin, the founder of the Wagner Private Military Company, said he expects encirclement of the Russian Army. The entire operation from the west to Bakhmut lasted from the 8th of October 2022, 7 months. During this time, we took in particular the Burkivka Reservoir, the settlement of Burkivka and moved along the Bakhmut-Slavinsk Road in the direction of Slavinsk. Now the reverse process is happening. After we transferred the flanks, there wasn't a tactical retreat. Comrade Konashenkov, to put it mildly, fibbed a little. The Russian Ministry of Defence simply fled from the flanks. The enemy will approach Bakhmut and will be at a distance of 500 meters from Bakhmut, occupying all tactical heights. According to Prigozin, only on the 12th of May, Russian servicemen left the territory of five square kilometres and now the Ukrainians have occupied tactical heights from which Bakhmut can be seen, from a bird's eye view, and they will also be able to use the chassive Yar-Bakhmut Road because it was completely liberated. Ukrainian military taking control of Burkivka will mean gradual encirclement of Bakhmut. Other Russians, Prigozin said.