The founder of the private military company “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin said that his fighters remain in Bakhmut (Artemovsk). According to Prigozhin, on the night of May 7, the PMC “for the first time in all this time” received a combat order with classified data.
“They promise to give us as much ammunition and weapons as we need to continue further actions,” said the head of the PMC.
According to him, the private military company was promised to put “everything necessary” on the flank so that they “were not cut off by the enemy”, and they were also given the freedom to act in Bakhmut as they see fit.
“We are given [General Sergey] Surovikin as a person who will make all decisions in the framework of the military operations of the Wagner PMC and interaction with the Ministry of Defense. And this is the only person with the star of an army general who knows how to fight, ”wrote Prigozhin’s press service.
The businessman also stated that on May 6 he suggested that the junior commanders of the Wagner PMC join other military formations if they had such a desire.
“Everyone unequivocally answered no, and in an obscenely naturally characteristic form for PMC Wagner,” Prigozhin said.
“The operation was completed”
On the night of May 7, the founder of the PMC stated that he considered the operation of his military in Bakhmut completed. He said that the fighters would be sent to training camps, where they would be “until the threat to Russia and Russian citizens disappears as part of this military operation.”
“The Bakhmut meat grinder has fully completed its task,” he noted.
Prigozhin claimed that approximately 95% of the city’s territory is under the control of Russian forces, and the remaining 5% “does not play any role for the so-called development of success and the campaign of the Red Army further to the West.”
On May 5, Prigozhin announced that on May 10, PMC Wagner would leave Bakhmut due to “shell hunger” and high personal losses. He confirmed his readiness to transfer positions in the city to Akhmat special forces units in response to such a proposal from the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov.
The entrepreneur had previously complained more than once about “shell hunger”. In the winter, Prigozhin declared that he himself “had gone around all the well-known offices in Moscow” with this question.The place of “Wagner” in Bakhmut will be taken by “Akhmat” Evgeny Prigozhin said that he contacted representatives of the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov to start…
The founder of the PMC also said that when Surovikin commanded the Russian group of troops (from October 2022 to January 2023), there were no problems with ammunition. “I don’t blame anyone and I don’t want to show anyone. Leave your whims and give ammunition, ”he called.
Kadyrov urged Wagner to stay in Bakhmut
On May 6, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, recorded a video message to Yevgeny Prigozhin in which he responded to statements of intent to leave Bakhmut by May 10.
“Zhenya, you will be on the defensive until we reach the positions. And when we start advancing, only then will we determine where you go next … I tell you according to the concepts – you must do this, this and that. People will contact you and explain,” the head of Chechnya said in a video message.
He also suggested that the PMC fighters stay in Bakhmut and promised that better conditions would be created for them, “than today.” Kadyrov noted that the Wagner fighters know the area, and therefore they are needed to take the city.
The head of Chechnya asked the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to give instructions to relocate the Akhmat units to Bakhmut. Earlier, he promised to send Akhmat special forces soldiers to the positions of the Wagner PMC. Prigozhin agreed to transfer the positions of his military near Bakhmut to Chechen units.