Wagner chief accuses Russian defence minister of TREASON and depriving his forces of ammunition

The head of Putin’s Wagner mercenary group has accused Russia’s defense minister of treason and depriving his forces of ammunition in an attempt to destroy his private army.

In an outburst of fury on his Telegram channel, Yevgeny Prigozhin said there was “just direct opposition” to a reference to Kremlin high command and that this “can be equated to high treason.”

The feared mercenary chief singled out Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the country’s highest-ranking soldier, for deliberately causing him a shortage of weapons, which he said was leading to higher losses among his frontline troops.

Prigozhin, nicknamed ‘Putin’s Chef’ who once provided catering services to the Kremlin, has been leading Russia’s months-long battle for the town of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region with his men suffering catastrophic losses.

But he has been increasingly at odds with Russian top brass, dismissing Putin’s generals as a “bunch of clowns” just weeks ago.

“There is just direct opposition,” Prigozhin (right) said in a voicemail posted on his Telegram channel. ‘This can be equated to high treason.’ He has often been at odds with Putin’s defense chief Sergei Shoigu (left)

“There is simply direct opposition,” Prigozhin said in his extraordinary voice message today. ‘This can be equated to high treason.’

It is the second such message posted by Prigozhin in two days. On Monday, he complained that anonymous officials were denying Wagner supplies out of personal animosity toward him.

Apparently angry, and speaking loudly at times, Prigozhin blamed Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the country’s highest-ranking soldier, for deliberately causing the arms shortage, which he said was causing further losses. among Wagner’s troops fighting around Bakhmut.

“The chief of the general staff and the defense minister are issuing orders left and right not only not to give Wagner’s CMP ammunition, but not to help it with air transport,” Prigozhin said.

Prigozhin has for months criticized top brass for what he has called their incompetence. Prigozhin has said that the Defense Ministry is trying to take credit for Wagner’s successes in the town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.

The Defense Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.

Yesterday, Prigozhin also accused unspecified officials of deliberately denying his fighters sufficient ammunition as part of an ongoing rivalry between him and parts of the Russian elite.

In a seven-minute audio message released by his press service on Monday, an apparently angry and emotional Prigozhin said he was obliged to “apologize and obey” to secure ammunition for his troops.

Sometimes speaking loudly and occasionally cursing, he said: “I cannot solve this problem despite all my connections and contacts.”

Prigozhin said that Russia’s military production is now sufficient to supply the forces fighting on the front lines and that the supply difficulties its fighters are experiencing are the result of conscious decisions.

“Those who interfere with us trying to win this war are absolutely and directly working for the enemy,” he said.

Since the outbreak of the conflict, Prigozhin has publicly feuded with generals and Kremlin officials, accusing them of insufficient zeal to carry out the campaign against kyiv.

He has reserved his harshest criticism for the Russian Defense Ministry, which he has accused of trying to take credit for Wagner’s achievements on the battlefield.

In an outburst of fury on his Telegram channel, Yevgeny Prigozhin said there was “just direct opposition” to a reference to Kremlin high command and that this “can be equated to high treason.” In the photo: a Ukrainian tank near the front line in Bakhmut

In his audio message, Prigozhin said unspecified people he blamed for the ammunition shortage were “eating breakfast, lunch and dinner on golden plates” and sending their relatives on vacation to Dubai, a popular destination for the Russian elite. .

Separately, Prigozhin’s press service said in a post on Monday that the Wagner Group was having difficulties placing TV ads to recruit volunteers for the conflict, and appealed to national and regional TV channels and advertising agencies to to support your recruiting campaign.

The White House said last week that the Wagner Group had suffered more than 30,000 casualties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with around 9,000 killed in action.

About 90% of those killed in Ukraine since December were convicts, he said, referring to Prigozhin’s recruitment of prisoners to fight.