The leader of the Wagner paramilitary group accused the Russian army on Friday of carrying out attacks against the camps of its mercenaries, causing “a very high number of victims”, accusations denied by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“They carried out attacks, missile attacks, in the rear of our camps. A large number of our fighters were killed,” Yevgeny Prigozhin stressed in an audio message broadcast by his press service.
Prigozhin also assured that he will retaliate for these attacks, which, according to the leader of the Wagner group, were ordered by the Russian Defense Minister.
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s message was accompanied by a video of about a minute, showing a destroyed forest, some fires and at least one soldier’s body.
The Russian army has already denied carrying out attacks on camps belonging to the Wagner group.
“The messages and videos posted on social media by Prigozhin about alleged ‘attacks by the Russian Defense Ministry on the rear bases of the Wagner paramilitary group’ do not correspond to reality and are a provocation,” the Russian government said in a statement. .
These strong accusations by Prigozhin expose the deep tensions within Moscow’s forces over the offensive in Ukraine.
The leader of Wagner’s group had said today that the Russian army is withdrawing in various sectors of southern and eastern Ukraine, Kherson and Zaporizhia, respectively, contradicting Moscow’s claims that the Kiev counteroffensive was a failure.
Prigozhin said the same is happening in Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces are breaking through Russian defenses.
“There is no control, there are no military successes” by Moscow, Prigozhin declared, saying the Russian army was “washing itself in its own blood,” a way of saying it was suffering heavy losses.
Prigozhin’s comments, which cannot be independently verified, contradict Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who said the army was repelling all Ukrainian attacks.
In recent days, Putin has been repeating that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has been a failure and that kyiv’s forces have suffered almost catastrophic losses.
On Thursday, Shoigu said the Ukrainian army was regrouping after failing to break through Russian defenses.
Prigozhin described the victorious statements by the Defense Ministry in Moscow as a “profound mistake” and accused the General Staff of concealing Russian difficulties and losses on the ground.
Source: TSF
