The head of Wagner criticises the Russian forces for not having enough ammunition.
The head of a Russian private military group said that Russian military leaders were to blame for thousands of deaths because they didn’t send enough weapons and help to the battlefield.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said in Russian in a video that was shared on Telegram on Thursday: “We are missing 70% of the needed ammunition!”
The chief said that the mercenaries’ bodies were lying on the front lines of the fight, where the video was taken.
In the video, Prigozhin said that all of these people died in just one day of fighting.
The chief can be seen screaming angrily, “Shoigu, Gerasimov, where… is the ammunition?,” calling out to Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the Russian Armed Forces Gen. Valery Gerasimov.
“The blood is still fresh,” he said, pointing to the people behind him. They came here as volunteers and are dying so that you can sit in your fancy offices like fat cats.
Near the city of Bakhmut, Ukraine, on April 23, 2023, members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s 3rd separate assault squad fire a howitzer D30 at a front line as Russia attacks Ukraine. — Reuters
Ukrainian soldiers from the 3rd separate assault unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fire a D30 howitzer at a front line near the city of Bakhmut, Ukraine, on April 23, 2023, as Russia attacks Ukraine. — Reuters
On Friday, a similar platform posted another video of the Wagner chief saying in Russian, “The dead and wounded, which is tens of thousands of men, lie on the conscience of those who did not give us ammunition. This is Defence Minister Shoigu and this is Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov.”
He also said, “The tens of thousands of people who were killed or hurt will have to answer to their mothers and children for what they did. I will make sure of that.”
But in the same video message, he praised the former Deputy Defence Minister Mikhail Mizintsev, who is now the deputy leader of the Wagner Group.
Since a few months ago, Prigozhin has been on the front lines, where the real battle is happening. He has also said that he wants to take land from Ukraine, especially in the fights going on around the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
On a frontline in Mykolaiv region, Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers fire a self-propelled howitzer at Russian forces as Russia attacks Ukraine. November 2, 2022. — Reuters
During Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers fire a self-propelled howitzer at Russian forces on a frontline in Mykolaiv region, Ukraine. November 2, 2022. — Reuters
“Shoigu inspected troops and military equipment in Russia’s southern military district on Friday, where he promised military supplies,” the Russian military said.
In the statement, it said that Shoigu had told them to “make sure that the groups of troops in the areas of the special military operation are always and regularly supplied with all the necessary weapons and military equipment.”
Wagner’s leader, Prigozhin, has been asking the government for more weaponry because they are said to be running out and not getting enough help from Moscow.
He shared a picture on Telegram in a similar way, but soon after, he told the Wagner troops that they were getting a shipment of ammunition.
He has also said that he will pull his troops back from the front lines if he doesn’t get enough help to keep the war going.
In a different message sent out on Telegram on Friday, he said that Wagner would leave Bakhmut on May 10 because he was out of bullets.
“I declare on behalf of the Wagner fighters and the Wagner command that on May 10, 2023, we will have to hand over positions in the settlement of Bakhmut to the Defence Ministry and send the rest of Wagner to logistics camps to lick our wounds,” Prigozhin said.
He also said, “I’m pulling back Wagner PMC units because, without ammunition, they’re going to die in a pointless way.”
