Russia’s Wagner chief ‘pulling his forces out of Bakhmut’ over weapons row with Putin’s government

The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group has said he will be withdrawing his troops from the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in a row over support from Vladimir Putin’s government.

The group founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin – a Putin ally – has been spearheading Russia's attempt to capture Bakhmut since last summer, in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war in Ukraine.

"I declare on behalf of the Wagner fighters, on behalf of the Wagner command, that on 10 May, 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," Mr Prigozhin said in a statement.

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

Given that Mr Prigozhin has given advance notice of the withdrawal, it may end up that the threat is an act of brinkmanship from, as he has frequently posted impulsive comments in the past. Only last week he withdrew one statement he said he had made as a "joke".

The Wagner leader’s latest comments follow an expletive-filled video published early on Friday in which Mr Prigozhin, surrounded by dozens of corpses he said were Wagner fighters, yelled and swore at Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, and the chief of the general staff of the armed forces, Valery Gerasimov. He said they were to blame for Wagner's losses because they had starved it of ammunition.

"We have a 70 per cent shortage of ammunition. Shoigu! Gerasimov! Where is the f****** ammunition?" he yelled into the camera.

Those responsible would go to hell, Mr Prigozhin shouted, before saying that Wagner's losses would be five times smaller if it was adequately supplied.

"These are Wagner lads who died today. The blood is still fresh," Mr Prigozhin said, pointing to the corpses around him. "They came here as volunteers and they're dying so you can get fat in your offices."

Moscow sees Bakhmut as a stepping stone to other larger citiesin the region of Donetsk. Taking control of the area known as Donbas, Ukraine’s industrial heartland that includes the regions of Donetsk and neighbouring Luhansk is a major aim of Mr Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The fierce, months-long battle for Bakhmut has gained an outsized political and symbolic importance for both Moscow and Kyiv, with neither side wanting to be seen to lose it.

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