Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The boss of Russian mercenary group Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, accused Russian military units of fleeing from positions near Bakhmut in Ukraine and said Russian troops were unable to defend his country.
Prigozhin, whose influence increased rapidly in Moscow’s incursion into Ukraine, has in recent days released a series of scathing videos attacking Russia’s military leadership.
“Today one of the defense ministry units escaped from one of our wings… exposing the front,” Prigozhin said in a video. AFPTuesday (9/5/2023).
He threatened to pull his fighters out of Bakhmut by May 10 if he did not receive much-needed ammunition.
Meanwhile, the mercenary group has spearheaded Moscow’s fight for the eastern Ukrainian city.
Prigozhin said the soldiers fled because of the “stupidity” of the Russian army commander, who he said gave “criminal orders”.
“Soldiers must not die because of the stupidity of their leadership,” said Prigozhin.
He released the video on Russia’s Victory Day, when Moscow celebrated the Soviet victory over the Nazis in World War 2.
Meanwhile, in the unprecedented attack on the Russian army, Prigozhin said Moscow’s top generals were trying to “cheat” President Vladimir Putin over the Kremlin’s campaign in Ukraine.
“If all tasks are carried out in such a way as to deceive the commander-in-chief (Putin), then he will tear you apart or the Russian people who will be outraged by the lost war,” Prigozhin said.
As Ukraine prepares for a spring offensive, the outspoken 61-year-old questions the Kremlin’s ability to defend the country.
“Why can’t the country defend its country?” Prigozhin said in the video, adding that Ukraine “successfully” attacked Russia’s border region.
He said Ukraine was preparing for an attack “which will be carried out on the ground, not on TV”.
“So far, in our country everyone thinks that everything should be done on TV.”
(luc/luc)
2023-05-09 15:00:00
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