Yevgeny Prigozhin made a desperate plea for more ammunition for his Wagner Group fighters in an audio clip published Monday.
The chief of the notorious paramilitary unit, that has led the months-long offensive in Bakhmut, was speaking only days after he accused Russia’s Defense Ministry of Treason, saying government officials are intentionally witholding the ammunition needed to secure victory in Bakhmut.
The industrial city, which is located in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, has been the scene of some of the most intense fighting since Russia launched its full-scale invasion just over a year ago. Clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces around Bakhmut have been increasing in ferocity as Moscow seeks to secure its first major battlefield victory since the summer of 2022.
“I’m knocking on all doors and sounding the alarm about ammunition and reinforcements, as well as the need to cover our flanks,” Prigozhin said in the audio clip.
“If everyone is coordinated, without ambition, screw ups and tantrums, and carries out this work, then we will block the armed forces of Ukraine. If not, then everyone will be screwed,” he said.
Prigozhin previously accused the Russian government of lying about providing the Wagner Group with the ammunition it needs.
In an audio clip posted by the Prigozhin-owned Concord company on February 22, he said he was told that Russia’s Defense Ministry was claiming it had been distributing ammunition to volunteer units around Bakhmut, a claim he refuted.
“Wagner PMC is not receiving 80 percent of the ammo required to complete combat objectives,” he said. “Therefore, the announcement by the Ministry of Defense is nothing more than a spit in the face for Wagner PMC, and an attempt to hide their crimes against the fighters who are today completing a feat in Bakhmut.”
He has said his fighters were “dying en masse” because of a shortage of ammunition.
Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry for comment.
Prigozhin also said Tuesday that Ukrainian armed forces are grouping around Bakhmut.
“The armed forces of Ukraine will fight for [Bakhmut] to the end, and this is obvious. We must do our job to the end. But when the whole world gathers around you, it is necessary that someone interact with you. That is why we are knocking on all doors,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to defend Bakhmut, saying in February that it was important to hold the city, but not at any cost. However, in his nightly address on Monday, Zelensky said he had discussed Bakhmut with his top commanders and they had told him “not to withdraw,” wanting instead to strengthen the city’s defenses.
“The command unanimously supported this position. There were no other positions. I told the commander in chief to find the appropriate forces to help our guys in Bakhmut,” Zelensky said.
Yan Gagin, an advisor and spokesperson for the acting head of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, was cited by Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti on Tuesday as saying that Moscow’s forces currently control nearly half of Bakhmut.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, told Newsweek on February 17 that Bakhmut is “a live wall that allows us to prepare our troops for de-occupation”—implying that a successful defense of the city could put the Ukrainians in a position to launch a counter-offensive.
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Yevgeny Prigozhin made a desperate plea for more ammunition for his Wagner Group fighters in an audio clip published Monday.
