The positions were again extreme in the war in Ukraine, but this time between the Russian military leadership and the founder of the Wagner mercenary group. Six days after giving an interview in which he already foresaw the possibility of withdrawing from Bakhmut due to the lack of ammunition – and even the militia itself “ceases to exist” – Yevgeny Prigozhin returned to the charge, threatening in a series videos withdraw the troops from the front line of Bakhmut on the 10th.
Indifferent to Prigozhin’s criticism and brutal tone, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reportedly visited the headquarters of the Russian armed forces in the Donetsk region to check supplies of weapons and vehicles to the region. In the southwest, the Russians have ordered thousands of residents of the occupied Zaporizia region to retreat, while a curfew has been imposed in the city of Kherson to try to identify collaborators.
In videos filmed at night next to what he claimed were the corpses of Russian volunteers, Prigozhin blamed Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov for “tens of thousands” of dead and wounded fighters in Ukraine for not supplying enough ammunition . “Their lack of professionalism is destroying tens of thousands of Russians and that is unforgivable.”
“Shoigu! Gerasimov! Where’s My Damn Ammunition?” exclaimed Prigozhin, according to whom there is an ammunition shortage of 70%. “They came here as volunteers and die so you can get fat in your wood-clad offices,” he said before sending bosses to “hell.”
Wagner led the Russian assault on Bakhmut, which began in August, in a battle that inflicted heavy casualties on both the invading and invading sides and led senior U.S. military personnel to advise the Ukrainian withdrawal and show ignorance to the Russian fixation. in a city that is said to have little strategic value.
However, according to both Prigozhin himself and Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar, the goal is to capture the entire city on the 9th, the day when Russia celebrates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany.
Prigozhin had already openly criticized the military leadership and threatened to withdraw, but not in the tone used this time, besides bringing forward a date. “On May 10, 2023, we will have to hand over our positions in Bakhmut to Defense Ministry units and withdraw Wagner units to back camps to lick our wounds,” the businessman close to Vladimir Putin said in a written statement to Telegram. .
“I will withdraw the Wagner units from Bakhmut because, for want of ammunition, they will face pointless death,” he said, adding that he was waiting for a plan from the army to withdraw.
Chechen leader Razman Kadyrov immediately criticized the Defense Ministry for not listening to Prigozhin, but offering to replace the militia. Kadyrov stated that the move could be carried out “within hours” and that his soldiers are “already prepared to advance and take the city”.
Officially, it was a day like any other for Moscow, with the exception of Shoigu’s visit to headquarters in Donbass, where he met his new number two Alexei Kuzmenkov, responsible for logistics to replace Mizintsev (see below). On the side of Kiev, mistrust. Military analyst Petro Chernyk said it could be a staged act to mislead the Ukrainian command. “Maybe there’s a subtle satanic detail here that they seem to be retreating. We’re tempted to take some counter-offensive measures, but in reality no one has gone anywhere,” the colonel said.
As Ukraine prepares to try to recapture territory by bombing fuel tanks and refineries, such as the one in Ilsky, in southern Russia, which was hit twice in recent hours, the governor installed by Moscow in Zaporizhia announced the withdrawal of about 70,000 people from 18 villages near the frontline.
In the capital Kherson, liberated in November but subject to continuous Russian bombing, authorities announced a curfew for 58 hours. The purpose of the measure is to identify employees.
“Butcher of Mariupol” joins the Wagner group
Former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Mikhail Mizintsev has joined the private Wagner militia as a deputy commander, Russian social media outlets reported. The Colonel General, in charge of logistics since last September, was responsible for the destruction of Mariupol, earning him the title of “butcher” of that city when it was targeted by European Union sanctions.
Mizintsev had been removed from office a week earlier. This unusual hiring sparked speculation, with analysts defending the theory that the dismissal was due to the soldier’s closeness to the leader of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and consequent incompatibility with the leadership, and others arguing that the move had been negotiated with the top of Putin’s regime.
Source: DN
