INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The chief of mercenary group Wagner on Wednesday accused Moscow's top brass of deceiving Russians about the course of Ukraine's
offensive and pointed to Kyiv's progress on the battlefield.Early this month Kyiv's military launched its counteroffensive in the east
and south of the Western-backed country in an effort to claw back territory lost since last year.Russian President Vladimir Putin has
repeatedly said that Ukraine's offensive is failing.But Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose forces had for months led an assault for
towns in eastern Ukraine including Bakhmut, accused the Defense Ministry of not telling the truth and losing territory to Ukrainian
troops."They are misleading the Russian people," he said in an audio message released by his spokespeople.A number of villages including
Pyatykhatky has been lost, Prigozhin said, pointing to a lack of arms and ammunition."Huge chunks have been handed over to the enemy," he
said, adding that Ukrainian troops have already sought to cross the Dnipro River, a natural border on the frontline."All of this is being
totally hidden from everyone," the 62-year-old said."One day Russia will wake up to discover that Crimea too has been handed over to
Ukraine," he said.Kyiv has reported modest gains, retaking eight settlements in the first cautious steps of a fightback against entrenched
Russian positions.On Wednesday, Putin insisted again that Ukrainian troops had sustained "serious losses" and said that there was a "certain
