05/05/2023
Ukraine
DERadioFm News
Wagner to leave Bakhmut on May 10 over lack of ammunition, Prigozhin says
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin announced on Friday that his private military company would leave the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on May 10 because his fighters lack ammunition.
“I am officially addressing the Chief of the General Staff, the Minister of Defense, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the people of Russia,” Prigozhin said in a statement posted to the Telegram messaging app.
"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 Defense Ministry and withdraw the remains of Wagner to logistics camps to lick our wounds," Prigozhin said.
“I'm withdrawing Wagner PMC units because without ammunition, they are doomed to a senseless death,” he continued, claiming that Wagner had fallen “out of favour with envious near-military bureaucrats."
It comes a day after the Wagner boss launched an expletive-laden tirade against Russia's military leadership. Standing in front of the bodies of dozens of what he claims are his fighters killed in Russia’s war on Ukraine, Prigozhin blamed their deaths on a lack of support from Moscow.
Prigozhin’s forces have played a key role in Russian assaults on Ukrainian territory, including Bakhmut.
He has previously complained of receiving insufficient support from the Kremlin and, in an interview on Sunday, threatened to withdraw his mercenaries from the embattled eastern city.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Friday's announcement, telling a conference call with reporters: "Of course, I saw it in the media, but I can’t comment as it concerns the special military operation."
