The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner continues to confront the Russian military leadership. Yevgeny Prigozhin accuses the General Staff of being responsible for the deaths of dozens of mercenaries due to lack of ammunition and therefore takes an unusual measure: he calls on his compatriots to support him in his demand for ammunition and to put pressure on the army .
“Give ammunition to Wagner!” That’s what every Russian should say “from the driver to the flight attendant,” Prigozhin demanded in a post published Wednesday. Corresponding demands for more war material for the troops are already being circulated on the internet, he explained. There are plenty of projectiles, “but career-seeking politicians, assholes, assholes have to sign first” so that they would be delivered, Prigozhin scolded in the audio message. “We will tear them down and make sure they stop talking nonsense,” the businessman said.
Photo of dead mercenaries released
His message flanked by “Putin’s cook” with a photo of dozens of bodies lying in the snow of militants he said died Tuesday from lack of ammunition. “Their wives, their mothers and their children will receive their bodies. who is to blame Those who have to solve the ammunition supply problem,” he said.
Prigozhin already caused a sensation on Tuesday by accusing the Russian army command of “high treason” for not equipping his mercenaries with sufficient equipment in the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. He also accused Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of refusing to provide air transport. The General Staff even forbade the Wagner mercenaries to “supply shovels with which to dig trenches”. There is a “frontal opposition” to his troops, which is “nothing less than an attempt to destroy Wagner,” Prigozhin said.
The Wagner mercenary group, for which Prigozhin recruited prisoners from all over Russia and promised them amnesty in return, has played an important role in the fighting in eastern Ukraine. Prigozhin’s statements that the Wagner group had managed to gain ground in the Ukraine without help from the Russian army led to tensions with senior military officials.
“Act of Desperation”
The unprecedented call from the mercenary chief is further evidence of just how much these tensions have escalated – and of the inner-Russian power struggle smoldering in the background. Prigozhin has long been an ally of the Kremlin. The political scientist Tatyana Stanovaya took his increasingly violent statements as an indication that the mercenary boss “has lost direct access” to President Vladimir Putin: “This is an act of desperation and an attempt to make contact through the public and frightens the military leadership, ” she said. The action is associated with a high risk: in Russia, criticism of the military can be punished with up to 15 years in prison. Several members of the opposition are imprisoned under this law.
Russia’s Defense Ministry responded to these allegations with a statement detailing the ammunition officials said had been supplied to the “voluntary strike squadrons” — a name the military appears to be using for Wagner. All requests for ammunition for assault troops would always be met “as soon as possible”. Reports of ammunition shortages are “definitely false” and new deliveries should take place on Saturday, the ministry said.
Source: Krone
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