Moscow: Russian paramilitary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said that Sunday he had received “a promise” of more ammunition from the Russian army, after he threatened to pull his frontline Wagner troops out of Bakhmut.
“They promised to give us all the ammunition and armaments we need to continue the operations,” said Prigozhin, following his blistering attack on military chiefs over the situation in Bakhmut, the epicentre of Ukraine’s fight against Moscow’s forces.
He said they had been assured “that everything necessary will be provided” to fighters around Bakhmut.
Prigozhin’s Wagner group has spearheaded the grinding, months-long Russian assault on Bakhmut, almost capturing the city in the longest and bloodiest battle of the campaign.
SPONSORED CONTENT Appreciating the past, preserving the present: A journey into the Orang Asli’s arts, culture THE Orang Asli's art is more than just a creative outlet, it also reflects their enduring ties to their homeland, identity, and culture. Read more Prigozhin however threatened to leave his positions in Bakhmut on May 10 due to a lack of weapons, which he blamed on Russian army chiefs.
He warned that he would “pull out Wagner units from Bakhmut because in the absence of ammunition they are facing a senseless death”.
While Prigozhin had made similar threats to pull out in the past, the emotive language used in Friday’s video statement and the scathing personal criticism of the leaders of Russia’s campaign in Ukraine were unprecedented.
The rivalry between his private military group and the conventional army have come to the surface during the battle for Bakhmut.
On Sunday Prigozhin said that “all decisions” regarding Wagner’s operation would be taken by general Surovikin.
“He is the only decorated general that knows how to fight,” Prigozhin said.
Surovikin, an army veteran with a reputation for ruthlessness and who had been praised by Wagner, was named military commander in Ukraine in October.
Only three months later, he was replaced again by Valery Gerasimov, regularly criticised by Prigozhin.
Surovikin then became one of Gerasimov’s deputies.
Evacuations from the front line around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant prompted safety warnings from the UN nuclear watchdog, as a string of recent strikes escalate predictions of a looming spring counteroffensive.
Authorities in Russian-annexed Crimea said they repelled a Ukrainian drone attack in the city of Sevastopol overnight.
It marks the latest in a wave of alleged Ukrainian drone strikes and sabotage attempts ahead of May 9 celebrations of the Soviet victory over the Nazis, and amid an expected offensive by Kyiv.
Ukraine launched more than ten drones at the city, he said in a message on Telegram adding that two were shot down over the sea and another fell into a forest after losing control.
Russia said Saturday its forces had downed a Ukrainian missile over the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
And earlier this week, Russian authorities claimed they thwarted a drone attack on the Kremlin. A Russian fighter jet intercepted a Polish plane patrolling for the EU’s border agency over the Black Sea, causing the pilots to temporarily lose control of the aircraft, Warsaw said Sunday.
According to Poland’s border force, the Russian Sukhoi Su-35 plane did not make radio contact before carrying out “aggressive and dangerous manoeuvres, approaching the border guard plane three times without keeping to the required safety distance”.
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