Wagner Group Commander Ready to Send Units to Defend Russian Border with Ukraine

Prigozhin said: “If the Russian Defense Ministry does not stop what is happening in the Belgorod region … where Russian lands are being seized, it is clear that we will intervene.”

He added in an audio message published by his media office: “We will defend our Russian people and everyone who lives there,” explaining that his men will not wait for an “invitation” or permission to deploy in the region.

He added, “The only thing we will ask for is ammunition so that we are not empty-handed, as we say in Russia.”

In recent days, the Belgorod region, especially its areas closest to the Ukrainian border, has been subjected to unprecedented heavy fire since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine at the end of February 2022.

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the area had been hit by more than 500 artillery, mortar or rocket launchers, including more than 370 in and around the town of Chebykino, and that hundreds of civilians had fled.

And Gladkov announced, on Saturday, that two people had been killed in strikes, bringing the death toll to 7, and the authorities said that about 30 people were wounded.

Moscow also announced that the Air Force and its artillery had repelled an attempted ground attack from Ukraine in the region, a week after a qualitative armed incursion showed the ease of penetrating the Russian borders.

Wagner’s commander accused the Russian army of “giving up” lands in the Belgorod region.

“The Russian Defense Ministry is not in a position to do anything because it doesn’t really exist, it’s in a mess,” Prigozhin said.

Earlier, Wagner’s commander announced that his forces withdrew from the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine by “99 percent” and handed over their positions to the Russian army after declaring control of the city on May 20.