Wagner Threatens To Pull Out Of Bakhmut

Leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has said that his forces would pull out of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in May.

Prigozhin made the dramatic declaration in a statement on Friday, insisting that his group would end its involvement in the Ukranian conflict because of insufficient ammunition supply and heavy casualty figure.

He added that he has already asked defense chiefs to insert regular army troops to fill the vacuum that would be created by his troop’s withdrawal.   

In the statement addressed to the head of general staff, the defence ministry, and President Putin, Prigozhin pointed out that the losses incurred by his group are increasing by the day.

"Because of the lack of ammunition, our losses are increasing exponentially every day. My lads will not suffer useless and unjustified losses in Bakhmut without ammunition.

"If, because of your petty jealousy, you do not want to give the Russian people the victory of taking Bakhmut, that's your problem," he said, adding that Gerasimov should replace Wagner units in Bakhmut with regular troops, and to specify when this would happen.

"I declare on behalf of the Wagner fighters, on behalf of the Wagner command, that on May 10, 2023, we are obliged to transfer positions in the settlement of Bakhmut to units of the defence ministry and withdraw the remains of Wagner to logistics camps to lick our wounds," Prigozhin said.

"I'm pulling Wagner units out of Bakhmut because in the absence of ammunition they're doomed to perish senselessly," he added. 

In the accompanying video, Prigozhin who stood amidst dozens of corpses he identified as Wagner fighters, yelled and swore at Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, and Chief of General Staff, Valery Gerasimov.

"We have a 70% shortage of ammunition. Shoigu! Gerasimov! Where is the ******* ammunition?" he shouted into the camera amidst torrents of expletives.

Although Prigozhin claimed his forces control more than 80 per ecnt of Bakhut, Ukranian defenders held out, prompting the Wagner leader to vent increasing anger over what he described as lack of support from the Russian defense establishment.