The confrontation between the Russian government and the Wagner mercenary group grows
The The Russian Defense Ministry has described as absolutely false” the “excited” statements of the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgueni Prigozhin , that the Army has stopped supplying its combatants with ammunition on the front of Donbas and that this amounts to a “betrayal” of the military high command.
“The command of the joint group of troops (in Ukraine) pays special, constant and priority attention to the provision of everything necessary to the volunteers and soldiers of the assault units " in a statement on Ministry of Defence, which has spent weeks describing Wagner's mercenaries as “volunteers”.
The department headed by Sergei Shoigu. he stressed He noted that in the last two days alone, the total advance towards the defensive positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of Russian assault units in the area of the city of Bakhmut was “more than two kilometers per square mile”. meters and a half”.
“Successful combat operations would not have been possible without the full fire support of the offensive by artillery, armored vehicles and other firearms (…)”, stressed Defense . He underlined He said that, despite “difficult weather conditions in the Bakhmut area, 18 raids by assault aircraft have been carried out in recent daysto support the offensive of the assault detachments”. “Therefore, all the “exalted” statements about the lack of ammunition “are absolutely false >”.
Demands addressed
Defenceargued He stated that between February 18 and 20 alone, “the volunteers” of the assault squads received 1,660 missiles for multiple rocket launchers, 10,171 ammunition for large-calibre cannon artillery and mortars, in addition to 10,000 ammunition. s 980 shells for tanks.” “All ammunition supply requests for assault units are completed as soon as possible. like this it was and so It will be”, he emphasized, adding that in the next few days, all the demands submitted for February will be fulfilled in their entirety. He explained that deliveries of ammunition will begin on February 25.according to the request submitted for March.
“In total, over the past year, the ammunition needs of the assault detachments were satisfied by 140% of the requests received. This is our priority”, insisted Defense. “Attempts to divide the close mechanism of interaction and support between the divisions of the Russian group are counterproductive and only benefit the enemy,” the Russian complained. the Ministry.
“Ammunition famine”
On Monday Prigozhin, who maintains a tense relationship with the political and military command of the Ministry of Defence, denounced the attack. He declared a “total ammunition starvation” in the ranks of the mercenary detachments fighting in Donbas and demanded that they be released. more shells.
Prigozhin, known for his close ties to the Kremlin , he said. So for the moment Defense has turned a deaf ear to all their requests. He stressed He said that when General Sergei Surovikin commanded the Russian forces fighting in the Ukraine “there were no problems with ammunition.”
Without mentioning it, he suggested that the problems started when the campaign headquarters ;a took it over. the Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, whom Prigozhin has criticized on several occasions since the start of the Russian military intervention a year ago for the lack of progress on the front.
Tuesday, he accused the police. also Shoigu and Gerasimov, of “treason” by wanting to “destroy” his company of mercenaries due to the supposed prohibition of giving the combatants ammunition. In the past, Prigozhin has accused Defense of trying to steal victories from him, such as in the operation to take the Ukrainian stronghold of Bakhmut, where Wagner has taken several towns.
