Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the mercenary group, has warned that the Russian positions around Bakhmut are in danger unless his soldiers receive ammunition as soon as possible, writes Reuters.
This announcement further increases the tension between Prigozhin and the Kremlin. The Russian Defense Ministry, in turn, informed that it had carried out an attack on the Ukrainian Azov command center in the Zaporizhzhya region, but did not provide further comments.
Prigozhin informed that the Russian front lines near Bakhmut may be destroyed if the fighters of the Wagner group do not receive the ammunition promised from Moscow already in February. He said on his organization’s Telegram channel:
«For now, we are trying to figure out the reason: is it just ordinary bureaucracy or a betrayal.»
The owner of the mercenary group regularly criticizes officials and generals of the Russian Ministry of Defense. On Saturday, the 4th of March, an almost four-minute-long video was published on the Wagner Orchestra Telegram channel, in which Prigozhin says that his soldiers are worried that they could become scapegoats if Russia loses the war. He also added that without Wagner’s group, the entire front line would fall apart.
Volodymyr Nazarenko, deputy commander of the National Guard of Ukraine and commander of the Bakhmut units, said that no order to retreat had been received and defensive positions were still being held in the gloomy conditions.
In the early morning of Monday, the 6th of March, the Ukrainian army reported that during the previous day, 95 Russian attacks were repelled in the vicinity of Bakhmut.
To the north of Bakhmut, the Russian army has advanced in the direction of Bilohorivka and has shelled several settlements in the direction of Kupiansk and Lyman. In the south, the Russians are preparing for attacks in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and are shelling dozens of towns and villages; there are also casualties among civilians.
The Ukrainian army has announced that the senior officers of the Russian 155th brigade, which is located near Vuhledar, refuse to follow orders. The army statement says: «The leaders of the brigade and senior officers are refusing to proceed with a new senseless attack as demanded by their unskilled commanders – to storm well-defended Ukrainian positions with little protection or preparation.»
Read also: Ukrainians build new trenches around Bakhmut