“Orders were given for delivery [de munições] on February 23, but, so far, most of it has not been sent”, said Prigojine, in a message released on Sunday night on social networks, advancing that there are only two possible reasons for the delay: “bureaucracy or betrayal”.
Fighters from the Wagner group are on the front lines of the battle for Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine that Russia has been trying to conquer for several months and which has become a symbol of the struggle for control of the industrial region of Donbass, formed by the self-proclaimed independent republics of Lugansk and Donetsk.
Already last week, Prigojine had made several criticisms of the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, and the commander of the country’s Armed Forces, Valery Guerassimov, accusing them of treason for refusing to provide combat material to the paramilitary group, but, a few days later, a decree was passed ordering the supply of arms and ammunition to Russian “volunteer forces” fighting in Ukraine.
The order did not, however, calm tensions, with Prigojine releasing a video over the weekend, in which he warns the Russian army that “if [o grupo] Wagner now withdraws from Bakhmut, the whole front will collapse.”
“Everything will fall to the borders of Russia, maybe even further. The situation will not be the most pleasant, ”she warned.
Despite strong tensions between the Wagner group and the army, Russian forces have in recent days made progress in the Bakhmut area and are now threatening to encircle the city which the Ukrainians continue to fiercely defend.
The Wagner mercenary units claimed, over the weekend, control of the Stupki railway station, north of Bakhmut, considered essential for accessing the city.
On Sunday, the Institute for the Study of War, a group of US experts that analyzes armed conflict strategies, estimated that Ukrainian forces were “probably on the verge of carrying out a limited tactical withdrawal” from Bakhmut.
Despite some analysts questioning the interest of Ukrainians in remaining in a city that is devastated, the North American Institute of Studies considers that Bakhmut’s defense continues to be “strategically sensible”, since “he is running out of troops and equipment Russians”.
“Ukrainian forces are unlikely to withdraw suddenly from Bakhmut, but should instead make a gradual withdrawal in order to exhaust Russian forces with urban fighting”, where they have “traditionally an advantage”, explained the institute.
