Global Courant 2023-05-05 19:44:57
Russian paramilitary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin on Friday threatened to withdraw frontline troops from Bakhmut in an extraordinary attack on military leaders that exposed a deep rift in Russian ranks ahead of an expected Ukrainian offensive.
In a series of scathing videos, Prigozhin blamed Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov for “tens of thousands” of Russian fighters killed and wounded in Ukraine.
He vowed to hold them accountable for what he said was the failure to supply fighters from his mercenary group, Wagner, with sufficient ammunition.
“For the tens of thousands of dead and injured, they will bear responsibility in front of their mothers and children, I will achieve that,” he said.
“Their unprofessional behavior is destroying tens of thousands of Russian boys and that is unforgivable.”
Wagner spearheaded the months-long Russian assault on Bakhmut, nearly capturing the city in the longest and bloodiest battle of the campaign.
While Prigozhin has made similar threats to withdraw in the past, the emotional language and scathing personal criticism from the leaders of the Russian campaign in Ukraine were unprecedented.
– ‘To lick our wounds’ –
“On May 10, 2023, we will have to hand over our positions in Bakhmut to Defense Ministry units and withdraw Wagner units to rear camps to lick our wounds,” Prigozhin said in a written statement to Telegram.
“I will withdraw Wagner units from Bakhmut because, for want of ammunition, they will meet a pointless death,” he said, adding that he now expected a plan from the army on how to carry out the withdrawal.
Ukraine said on Friday that Russia was still “doing their best to take control of Bakhmut” in time for World War II Victory Day celebrations on May 9 – Moscow’s main holiday and a central event among the nation. rule of President Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine is preparing a major offensive against Russian forces and experts say a series of sabotage and long-range attacks behind Russian lines are in preparation.
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In the latest development, a fire broke out at an oil refinery in southern Russia on Friday — a day after authorities confirmed a drone attack on the same facility.
Russia also announced on Friday the evacuation of some 70,000 people from areas near the front lines in southern Ukraine, blaming residential areas for intensifying Ukrainian shelling.
Earlier, Prigozhin posted a video to Telegram with rows of what he said were dead Wagner fighters, blaming Shoigu and Gerasimov for their deaths.
– ‘Dy so you can get fat’ –
“Shoigu! Gerasimov! Where’s My Damn Ammunition?” Prigozhin said in the video.
“They came here as volunteers and they die so you can get fat in your wood-clad offices,” he said as he stood by the bodies.
“These guys are from Wagner. They died today. Their blood is still fresh,” he said, adding that army chiefs “will go to hell”.
“We have a 70 percent ammunition shortage,” he said in his diatribe, which bleeped out several expletives.
“You’re in your (squeaky) expensive clubs… You think you’re the masters of life and you have the right to decide their lives,” he said, pointing to the bodies.
Prigozhin is closely associated with Putin and the two began their careers in business and politics in their native St Petersburg after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
In his statement on Friday, Prigozhin said his fighters had mobilized in Ukraine shortly after the campaign began and helped advance Russian forces after a series of reversals.
“We will lick our wounds and when the Motherland is in danger, we will defend it again. The Russian people can count on us,” he said.
– ‘Concrete actions’ threat –
In a daily update on the offensive, the Russian army did not point to anything unusual, saying that “assault units” continued to fight for the western part of the city “supported by paratroopers”.
The row within Russian ranks came as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated Russian allegations of US involvement in an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on the Kremlin.
While visiting the Indian state of Goa for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Lavrov said the attack could not have happened without Washington’s knowledge.
“We will respond with concrete actions,” he said.
Ukraine has denied responsibility, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying “we are not attacking Moscow or Putin.”
The United States also rejected any allegations of involvement, accusing the Kremlin of “lying” about its role in the drone strike.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Moscow on Thursday “not to use this alleged attack as an excuse to continue the escalation of the war”.
bur/jm
