The founder of the Russian private military group Wagner has warned that his forces, which are currently tightening their grip on the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, are not receiving their ammunition supplies. He stated that if forced to retreat, the entire front would collapse. Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video clip broadcast earlier this week, "If Wagner withdraws from Bakhmut now, the entire front will collapse... The situation will not be good for all military formations protecting Russian interests."
Prigozhin announced last Friday that his units had "virtually surrounded Bakhmut," where fighting has intensified over the past week with Russian forces attacking from almost all directions. However, he complained on Sunday that most of the ammunition promised by Moscow to his troops in February has not yet been delivered. He pointed out on his Telegram channel that "currently, we are trying to find out why: is it just ordinary bureaucracy or betrayal?"
Prigozhin regularly criticizes Russia's defense leaders and senior generals. Last month, he accused Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and others of "betrayal" for withholding ammunition supplies from his forces. In a video lasting nearly four minutes, Prigozhin expressed concerns that Moscow might want to make them potential scapegoats if Russia loses the war. He added, "If we withdraw, we will go down in history forever as the people who took the main step towards losing the war."
