Prigozhin shows a mass of killed Wagner mercenaries, blames Russian military command for withholding ammunition
The founder of the Wagner private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, continues to conflict with the top military leadership of the Russian Federation. Today, through the Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky (real name – Maxim Fomin), he reported that his fighters were dying near Bakhmut because of "shell hunger". According to Prigozhin, as of 10 a.m. on February 22, "no steps have been taken to provide ammunition." Prigozhin’s interview with Tatarsky was published by the press service of his company Concord.
"We need 105000 shells, and they give us only 3600. If you need 7600 shells, they will give 600. What should we do with these shells? Just keep them in the crates and pray? Or still use them to defeat the enemy," Prigozhin said.
He added that his fighters will not leave from Bakhmut, but "twice as much of them will die until everything is over. And when we are finished, then Shoygu and Gerasimov will have to take the machine guns," he said.
In support of his words, Prigozhin showed a photograph, allegedly, of one of the storage places for the mercenaries who were killed in one day.
"There should have been five times less," Prigozhin commented on the photo.
For several days, the founder of the Wagner Group has been publicly accusing the official military structures of the Russian Federation – the Defense Ministry and the General Staff – of not providing enough ammunition for his military formation. The day before, he said that Gerasimov and Shoygu were destroying his PMC, and equated this to high treason.