yevgeny prigozhin video bakhmut
The leader of Russia’s Wagnerian mercenary group said he would withdraw troops from the Ukrainian town of Bachmut on May 10 due to a lack of ammunition.
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s statement came after he posted a video of himself walking among the bodies of dead fighters and blaming senior Russian defense officials.
Prigozhin said “tens of thousands” were killed or wounded there.
For months, Russia has been trying to capture the eastern city, despite its questionable strategic value.
Wagner’s troops were heavily involved.
Earlier this week, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said more than 20,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and another 80,000 wounded in fighting in Ukraine since December, citing recently declassified intelligence agencies. Half of the dead were from the Wagner group.
Prigozhin, 61, used expletives in Friday’s statement to blame his decision to withdraw from Bakhmut directly on the Ministry of Defense.
“Shoigu! Gerasimov! Where did you get the…ammunition?… They came here voluntarily, to fatten you up and die in your mahogany office.”
There have been reports of intense infighting among various power blocs in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s entourage, with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov often leading the charge. The focus of Rigozhin’s anger.
In his statement, Prigorzhin said Wagner’s casualties “are increasing exponentially every day” due to insufficient ammunition.
But he stressed that his fighters would hold their ground until May 9, the day of victory in World War II, before withdrawing from Bakhmut the next day.
In a previously released video, Prigozhin stood in front of his subordinates and said he would “transfer the position of the Bakhmut settlement to the Ministry of Defense forces and withdraw Wagner’s body to the logistics camp to lick our Wound.”
“Without ammunition, my children would not have suffered useless and unreasonable losses in Bakhmut,” he added.
One of the videos Prigozhin posted on Friday appeared to have been filmed about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the center of Bakhmut. The BBC matched ground features, including bushes and utility poles, with satellite imagery of the site.