Wagner Group owner says war in Ukraine will drag on for years

The city centre damaged by Russian shelling in Bakhmut, Donetsk region. The graffiti reads: ‘Bakhmut loves Ukraine’ (AP)

The owner of Russian private military contractor the Wagner Group, which is actively involved in the fighting in Ukraine, has predicted that the war could drag on for years.

Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video interview that it could take 18 months to two years for Russia to fully secure control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland of Donbas.