KEY MOMENT IN THE WAR
The announcement comes at a key juncture in the war, with Ukraine expected to launch a long-anticipated counter-offensive imminently.
It was the second dramatic development in the space of three days, after Moscow accused Ukraine of firing drones at the Kremlin in the early hours of Wednesday in an attempt to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kyiv denied it, and the United States dismissed Kremlin claims it was behind the incident as “lies”.
The Kremlin declined to comment on Prigozhin’s statement, citing the fact it was related to the course of its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The written statement – addressed to the head of general staff, the defence ministry, and Putin as supreme commander – was accompanied by a video from Prigozhin in which he appeared in full combat gear in front of dozens of his fighters, an automatic rifle dangling from his shoulder.
“Because of the lack of ammunition, our losses are increasing exponentially every day,” the statement said.
“My lads will not suffer useless and unjustified losses in Bakhmut without ammunition,” Prigozhin added in the video.
“If, because of your petty jealousy, you do not want to give the Russian people the victory of taking Bakhmut, that’s your problem.”
Prigozhin said he was asking Gerasimov to replace Wagner units in Bakhmut with regular troops, and to specify when this would happen.
The stated withdrawal date of May 10 gives defence chiefs just five days to fill the gap a Wagner pullout would create.
It also threatens to overshadow national celebrations on May 9, when Russia commemorates victory over Nazi Germany in World War II and Putin is due to address the nation from Red Square.
Prigozhin said he expected to face criticism.
“After a while, there will be clever people who say that we should have stayed in Bakhmut longer,” he said. “Whoever has critical remarks – come to Bakhmut, you’re welcome, stand up with guns in your hands in place of our killed comrades.”
He also promised that Wagner would be back. “We will lick our wounds, and when the Motherland is in danger, we will rise again to defend it. The Russian people can count on us,” Prigozhin said.
Source: CNA
