A Russian mercenary squad made it seem as though they were abandoning their plans to leave Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine on Sunday by claiming Moscow had promised them more weapons and making it seem as though they could continue their attack on what they regard as a stepping stone to other cities in the Donbas region.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the commander of the Wagner, announced on Friday that his fighters, who have led a months-long assault on Bakhmut, would withdraw after running out of ammunition and incurring “useless and unjustified” losses as a result.
However, he said in a Sunday audio message that was uploaded to his Telegram account that “we have been promised as much ammunition and weapons as we need to continue further operations.” Everything required to stop the enemy will be provided, as was promised to us.
Although they have not yet responded to Prigozhin’s statement, Russian authorities have frequently attempted to dispel worries that their troops on the front lines are not receiving enough supplies. The Russian army as a whole, according to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, has “received the sufficient amount of ammunition” to successfully damage adversarial troops.
In response to inquiries on Prigozhin’s remarks, Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern command, stated that Russian soldiers have “more than enough” ammunition.
He said that Prigozhin’s remarks serve as a diversion from the significant losses Wagner has incurred as a result of sending so many soldiers into war.
Is that ammunition? There have been 479 artillery strikes in the last 24 hours in the vicinity of Bakhmut.
The pressure Russian soldiers are under as Ukraine finalises plans for a counteroffensive supported by tens of thousands of newly trained troops and armoured equipment given by the West is highlighted by Prigozhin’s threat to leave Bakhmut.