The founder and head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, continues the dispute with the Ministry of Defense and the army leadership. On Wednesday, Prigozhin published a photo that he says shows the bodies of dozens of his fighters. Prigozhin explained that they were killed because they were deprived of ammunition. Bodies can be seen lying stretched out on the frozen ground in eastern Ukraine.
Wagner units have been deployed there for months in the bitter battle for the town of Bachmut. “This is one of the places where the bodies of the deceased are collected,” Prigozhin said in an interview with a well-known Russian military blogger. “These are guys who died yesterday from the so-called starvation for ammunition. Mothers, wives and children will get their bodies. It should only be a fifth of them. Who is to blame for them dying? The culprits are those who should have clarified the question of how we get enough ammunition.”
In addition, Prigozhin published a copy of an official Wagner request for ammunition to the Ministry of Defense. It contains detailed lists of shells used, requested and received. “They still don’t give us ammunition,” Prigozhin said. “No steps were taken to give us ammunition.” Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, the commander in chief of the Ukraine operation, withheld their signatures on the ammunition delivery permits, Prigozhin said. Despite the lack of ammunition, his Wagner mercenaries would continue trying to take Bachmut. “Twice as many of us will die until none of us are left,” he said. “And if all of Wagner are dead, then Shoigu and Gerasimov will probably have to take up arms themselves.”
Only on Tuesday did he accuse Shoigu and Gerasimov of high treason because they deliberately did not send the Wagner units any ammunition and also refused to help them with air transport. “There is simply direct opposition,” Prigozhin said in a voice message published on Telegram. “That is tantamount to high treason.” The Ministry of Defense responded to this on Tuesday evening and described the allegations as completely untrue.
Shoigu is loyal to President Vladimir Putin and a close ally. Shoigu has a close confidant in Gerasimov, who only took over command of the Ukraine mission in January. Neither have publicly responded to allegations by the mercenary boss, who has previously accused them of incompetence and has repeatedly complained that the achievements of his mercenary force, which operates largely independently of the Russian military command, are not given sufficient credit.