Prigozin, leader of the Russian mercenary group "Wagner Group".

(AFP file photo)

[Compiler Guan Shuping/Comprehensive Report] Ukrainian troops have held on to Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine for several months, fending off Russian troops and mercenaries "Wagner Group (Wagner Group)" to take the city.

Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin criticized on the 26th that the Russian Ministry of Defense did not provide ammunition, which caused Wagner's troops to suffer five times the number of casualties in Bakhmut.

Prigozin, who has a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, published a recorded conversation on social media on the 26th, saying that Ukraine is sending well-equipped troops to Bakhmut. "A Ukrainian counteroffensive is inevitable," he expected. It will begin on May 2 when the weather improves and the ground hardens.

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He changed the subject to point out that there are "traitors" in Russia, and once again criticized the Russian Ministry of Defense for not supporting the ammunition that Wagner's soldiers desperately needed on the Ukrainian battlefield. His mercenary troops suffered five times the number of casualties due to the lack of support from Moscow.

He also questioned why the Russian army did not launch offensives against Slavyansk and Kramatorsk near Bakhmut to ease the pressure on Bakhmut.

However, he said Wagner would do whatever it takes to prevent any Ukrainian attempt to retake the city.

Prigezin has publicly criticized the Russian Ministry of Defense on many occasions. The American military think tank "Institute of War (ISW)" analyzed the war on the 22nd, pointing out that in order to persuade Putin to stick to the current front in Bakhmut, the Russian military command "maybe Tensions with Prigezin were partially repaired", the Ministry of Defense began to provide Wagner ammunition and mobilized additional troops, and since the beginning of April, there has also been a "substantial change in the tone of Prigezin's public statements about the Russian military. ".

Prigozin has refuted the above-mentioned analysis as "false", emphasizing that "even if it is for friendship with God, I will not exchange my people for ammunition."