Russian Paramilitary “Wagner” Group Hands Over Sites in Eastern Ukraine to Chechen Leader Ramzan Kadyrov in Protest of Lack of Ammunition

The head of the Russian paramilitary “Wagner” group announced on Saturday that he had asked Moscow for permission to hand over his group’s sites in the city of Bakhmut, the center of the fighting in eastern Ukraine, to the forces of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, in protest of the lack of ammunition.

Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a letter addressed to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu: “I ask you to issue a combat order before midnight on May 10, to transfer the positions of the (Wagner) group to the units of the Akhmat battalion in and around Bakhmut.”

According to Prigozhin, this comes “due to the lack of ammunition” for a long time, accusing the Chief of Staff of providing him with only 32 percent of the required ammunition since October 2022.

On Friday, Prigozhin threatened to withdraw his fighters from the city of Bakhmut, due to a shortage of ammunition, which he accused the army of standing behind.

For months, Prigozhin has been accusing the Russian General Staff of not supplying his group with enough ammunition to prevent it from achieving a victory in Bakhmut that the regular army cannot.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov announced via “Telegram” on Friday evening, his fighters’ readiness to take over the Russian sites in the city, if “Wagner” withdraws its units.

He said, “Our fighters are ready to move forward and occupy the city. It will take a few hours,” explaining that his forces have already fought alongside “Wagner” units in the Ukrainian cities of Popasna, Severodonetsk, and Lysychansk, which were controlled by Russia.

On Saturday, Kadyrov said via the “Telegram” application that his forces were “ready to move” towards Bakhmut.

“The soldiers are on alert, we are just waiting for orders,” he added.

On Saturday morning, Yevgeny Prigozhin thanked Kadyrov for his proposal, emphasizing that Chechen forces would “without a doubt” take control of Bakhmut.

Wagner has suffered heavy losses in recent months in its attempt to control Bakhmut.

The group occupied a large part of the city, but was unable to seize the last Ukrainian positions.

The Kremlin denies that there is any tension in the ranks of the Russian forces, but Prigozhin’s statements prove the opposite.

Prigozhin accuses the army leadership of not supplying it with the ammunition it needs in order to prolong the battle of Bakhmut and weaken the “Wagner” forces to prevent them from achieving a victory that would expose the setbacks that befell the army in recent months.