Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private military company that is fighting on Moscow’s behalf in Ukraine, has recently taken a bitter public feud with the top army brass to a new level. He released a grim image of dozens of his fighters he said were killed after being deprived of ammunition while battling Ukrainian troops. In an interview, Prigozhin said, “This is one of the places where the bodies of those who have died are gathered. These are guys who died yesterday because of so-called [artillery] ‘shell hunger’. Mothers, wives and children will get their bodies. There should be five times less [dead]. Who is guilty that they died? The guilty ones are those who should have resolved the question of us getting enough ammo.”
The Russian defence ministry responded to Prigozhin’s accusations by saying such allegations were “completely untrue” and complained – without mentioning Prigozhin by name – about attempts to create splits that worked “solely to the benefit of the enemy”. However, Prigozhin released a copy of what he said was Wagner’s official request to the defence ministry for ammunition, with detailed tallies of shells used, requested and received. He claimed that Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff, were withholding their signatures from shell approval forms.
Prigozhin has launched a social media campaign to try to secure artillery shells, saying Wagner had been reduced to begging military warehouses for ammunition, which he said was sometimes successful. Despite the purported shortage, he said his fighters would keep trying to overrun Ukraine’s Bakhmut. He added, “Twice as many of us are going to die that’s all, until there are none of us left. And when Wagner are all dead then Shoigu and Gerasimov will probably have to pick up a gun.”
Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner private military company fighting in Ukraine on behalf of Moscow, has recently escalated his public feud with the Russian military elite. He released a photo of dozens of his fighters who died due to lack of ammunition in battle against Ukrainian troops. In an interview, Prigozhin blamed the top army brass for the deaths and released a copy of Wagner’s official request for ammunition from the defence ministry.
The defence ministry denied Prigozhin’s allegations and accused him of creating splits that would benefit the enemy. However, Prigozhin has started a social media campaign to try and secure artillery shells and said Wagner had been reduced to begging military warehouses for ammo. He vowed that his fighters would continue trying to take over Bakhmut, even if it meant twice as many deaths. He added that when Wagner is gone, Shoigu and Gerasimov will have to pick up a gun.