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LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Russian mercenary commander Yevgeny Prigozhin on Wednesday released gruesome images of dozens of fighters he said were killed by being deprived of ammunition, raising a bitter public row with senior military officers to a new level.
Private “Wagner” fighting on behalf of Moscow in Ukraine military company founder Prigozhin repeatedly this week Russia He accused the Ministry of Defense of deliberately starving his fighters of ammunition, calling it a treasonous attempt to destroy Wagner.
Ministry of Defence In a statement issued on Tuesday, he said such claims were “absolutely untrue” and, without naming Prigogine, complained about attempts to create divisions that work “only to the benefit of the enemy”.
Wagner’s of Ukraine where he fought to capture the small town of Bakhmut of Ukraine Prigozhin, who has not hesitated to publish pictures of dozens of dead fighters lying prostrate on the icy ground to his east, doubled down on his claims on Wednesday.
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Prigogine is famous in Russia military said in an interview to his blogger: “This is one of the places where the bodies of the dead are collected.”
“These are the children who died of hunger yesterday due to the so-called shells. Mothers, wives, children will receive their bodies. There should be five times less (the dead). Who is to blame for their death? Sinners should be like that. solved the issue of us getting enough ammunition.”
In another move likely to anger senior military ranks, he released a copy of Wagner’s official ammunition list to the defense ministry, along with detailed counts of rounds used, requested and received — though he said he withheld such sensitive information. as the names of shells.
Prigogine the president Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, and the General Staff chief “They still don’t give us ammunition,” Valery Gerasimov said. “No steps have been taken to give us ammunition,” he said. they hid their signatures from the shell approval forms.
Neither has publicly responded to Prigogine’s criticism in the past.
Prigozhin, a wealthy catering tycoon and ex-convict, has taken a more public role since the start of the war. But he has faced a backlash in recent weeks amid some signs that the Kremlin and the Defense Ministry are taking steps to rein in their growing influence.
On Wednesday, he to protect the shells social that he started a media campaign and Wagner for ammunition military said that he turned to begging in warehouses and that it was sometimes successful.
Despite the alleged shortcoming, he of his fighters of Ukraine He said that they will try to capture Bakhmutu.
“Twice as many of us will die, until there are none left,” he said.
“When all of Wagner died, (Defence Minister) Shoigu and (general) Gerasimov, they will probably have to take weapons.”
Reporting by Andrew Osborn Editing by Peter Graff
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2023-02-22 20:26:27
Source – reuters
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