![]() When his forces did not receive the promised supplies and ammunition, Prigozhin posted a video threatening to release details of Russia's military failings if he didn't get ammo. That threat hasn't slowed him down or curbed his rants though. Prigozhin said he was threatened with treason over his assertions that Wagner forces would pull out of Bakhmut. More recently, as the problems persisted for Wagner, Prigozhin threatened to withdraw his forces from Bakhmut, a bold threat that he later walked back after purportedly securing a promise to deliver the necessary ammunition from Russia's defense ministry.īeyond potentially jeopardizing operations around Bakhmut, the Institute for the Study of War wrote in a recent update on the war in Ukraine that "chain of command problems" caused by irregular commanders like Prigozhin seems to be "having a significant impact on the Russian military's ability to conduct coherent theater-wide operations." The situation got so bad for Wagner at one point that expert observers speculated that the Russian military was purposefully decimating the group. He blames them for the "shell hunger," as he calls the lack of ammunition and essential supplies that he says is costing the lives of the men in his company. Under this leadership, support for Wagner has drastically declined, infuriating Prigozhin. Valery Gerasimov, Surovikin's replacement and the latest commander of Russian operations in Ukraine. Prigozhin, a financier for the notorious paramilitary company and long-time Putin ally, has posted videos showing piles of Wagner corpses as he blasts Russian military leadership, specifically Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Gen. Sergei Surovikin, an infamous Russian leader pushed by ultranationalists like Prigozhin, in January, the Russian defense ministry retook control. But for months now, the mercenary forces, including Wagner's army of convicts, have been bogged down in the battle for Bakhmut, a horrific high-casualty fight.ĭuring the intense fighting in Bakhmut, where the mercenaries have suffered tremendous losses, simmering tensions between the Russian defense ministry and the Wagner boss have boiled over. Wagner's forces have played a crucial role in Russian combat operations in Ukraine, which allowed Prigozhin to expand the group at the expense of Russian military resources and push command decisions to Putin directly, often bypassing the defense ministry. ![]() Petersburg, Russia, on December 24, 2022. Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin attends the funeral of his fighters at the Beloostrovskoye cemetery outside St. ![]() Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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