The head of the Wagner mercenary group has sensationally announced a withdrawal from the embattled city of Bakhmut and has denounced Russia’s defense minister as “scum” for failing to supply sufficient ammunition to his front-line troops.
Yevgeny Prigozhin — nicknamed Putin’s “chief” for his close ties to the dictator — ranted against Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the Supreme Commander of the Russian Army, General Valery Gerasimov, yesterday in a graphic video posted to Telegram yesterday.
The mercenary leader was filmed standing over the corpses of dozens of slain Wagner warriors – all of whom he claimed had died in bitter fighting in fiery attempts to capture Bakhmut earlier that day.
In an emotional foul-mouthed diatribe, he declared, “These are the Wagner PMC [Private Military Company] fighters who died today – the blood is still fresh… Film them all!’
Addressing Putin-appointed Shoigu and Gerasimov, who are in charge of military operations, he said, “Listen to me now, you ******* *****. These are someone’s ******* fathers and someone’s sons.
“And those scum that don’t give us ammunition will eat their entrails in hell. Mother*******.’
Then this morning, Prigozhin doubled down and stated that he will withdraw all his Wagner fighters from the front lines in Bakhmut by May 10.
“I declare on behalf of the Wagner fighters, on behalf of the Wagner Command, that on May 10, 2023, we are required to hand over positions in the Bakhmut settlement to Defense Ministry units and withdraw Wagner’s remains to logistical camps to lick our wounds,” he said in a statement.
“I’m taking Wagner units from Bakhmut because they’re doomed to perish pointlessly for want of ammunition.”
Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Wagner’s private mercenary army, points to piles of dead mercenaries as he rails against Russia’s defense minister
An emotional Prigozhin repulsed Shoigu and Gerasimov due to Wagner’s lack of ammunition
General Valery Gerasimov, left, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu
Last year, the ranks of the group of mercenaries grew as they recruited thousands of hardened criminals from Russian prisons and were well supplied with weapons, ammunition and equipment by Russia’s then army chief General ‘Armageddon’ Sergei Surovikin – a close ally of Prigozhin.
But Surovikin was downgraded in January in favor of Russia’s current army chief Valery Gerasimov, who, along with long-suffering Defense Minister Shoigu, is wary of Prigozhin and sees his mercenary group’s success as damaging to the Russian military’s ailing reputation. .
Wagner has since been banned from recruiting prisoners to aid the war effort – and Prigozhin believes Gerasimov and Shoigu are responsible for stopping the flow of vital ammunition and equipment to Wagner’s front line.
“We are 70% short of ammunition,” the Wagner chief declared in the gruesome video.
‘Shoigu [and] Gerasimov: where is the **** the ammunition?
“You just sit around, asshole, in expensive clubs. Your kids are going out of life and making videos on YouTube.
“You think you’re in charge of this life—and that you have a right to control their lives.
“You think if you have warehouses full of grenades, you are entitled to them.”
Shoigu has previously insisted that sufficient ammunition be supplied to Wagner and other front-line troops, but Prigozhin’s outburst seems to confirm suspicions that Russia’s defense ministry is trying to undermine the group of mercenaries.
Prigozhin pointed to the bodies of his fallen mercenaries as he lashed out at Russia’s defense minister and army general
The bodies of dead Wagnerites lie in a field after another failed attack on Ukrainian positions
Vladimir Putin (L) is seen with Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin
Prigozhin turned to Putin-appointed Shoigu and Gerasimov, who are in charge of military operations, and growled, “Listen to me now, you ******* *****. These are someone’s ******* fathers and someone’s sons!’
The Wagner boss told the defense minister: “It’s a basic calculation – if you give us the [correct] ammunition, five times less will die.
“They came here as volunteers and are eager to have you live in your redwood offices.
‘Remember that.’
In theory, both Prigozhin and Shoigu are on the same side amid the conflict in Ukraine, and are among autocrat Putin’s most loyal henchmen.
But Prigozhin has declared his own war on Shoigu and his right-hand man Gerasimov.
Meanwhile, Putin is silent about the obvious rift that threatens to tear his armed forces apart, appearing weak for failing to address the issue.
Prigozhin’s extreme tirades against the army’s commander-in-chief – of which this is the strongest – should lead to his arrest under Putin’s draconian laws preventing criticism of the military.
But Wagner has proved effective on the battlefield – more so than many regular Russian army units – and Prigozhin seems to have been given carte blanche to operate freely without fear of reprimand.
Wagner – made up of mercenaries, volunteers and convicts – has suffered tens of thousands of casualties in the war so far.
Prigozhin blames the scale of the deaths on the army’s refusal to release proper supplies of ammunition and weapons – although many of its units are also poorly trained, due to their recent recruitment from Russia’s penal system.