ANTHONY LOYD
Mutiny hasn’t changed our counteroffensive, say Ukraine’s soldiers
Political strife for the enemy is welcome but troops believe it’s not enough to shift the war
Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut said they considered the Wagner Group’s retreat some sort of strange Russian chess move — part of a consolidation of power
ROMAN CHOP/AP
A resigned and wearied realism settled over Ukrainian soldiers as news of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s volte face spread along the Donbas front. Few appeared to have thought the Wagner group’s advance towards Moscow and the spectre of a Russian civil war would have ever resulted in a speedy collapse of their enemy across no-man’s-land.
Many soldiers said they regarded the mutiny as a Russian ploy of some kind or else as merely a complex solidification of power among Kremlin military leaders. None seemed to believe that its aftermath would shorten their war or hasten Ukraine’s chances of victory.
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“Of course we were happy to see them shoot down their own helicopters and turn on
