Russia's Prigozhin says Wagner fighters will quit Bakhmut to 'lick our
wounds'
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[May 05, 2023]
By Felix Light and Caleb Davis
(Reuters) -Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia's Wagner Group mercenary
force, said in a sudden and dramatic announcement on Friday that his
forces would pull out of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut that they have
been trying in vain to capture since last summer.
Prigozhin said they would withdraw on May 10 - ending their involvement
in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war - because of heavy losses
and inadequate ammunition supplies. He asked defence chiefs to insert
regular army troops in their place.
"I declare on behalf of the Wagner fighters, on behalf of the Wagner
command, that on May 10, 2023, we are obliged to transfer positions in
the settlement of Bakhmut to units of the defence ministry and withdraw
the remains of Wagner to logistics camps to lick our wounds," Prigozhin
said in a statement.
"I'm pulling Wagner units out of Bakhmut because in the absence of
ammunition they're doomed to perish senselessly."
Bakhmut, a city of 70,000 people before the start of the war, has taken
on huge symbolic importance for both sides because of the sheer
intensity and duration of the fighting there.
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Wagner has been spearheading Russia's attempt to capture it and
Prigozhin said three weeks ago that his men controlled more than 80% of
the city.
But Ukrainian defenders have held out, and Prigozhin has vented
increasing anger at what he describes as lack of support from the
Russian defence establishment.
It was not clear if his latest statement could be taken at face value,
as he has frequently posted impulsive comments in the past. Only last
week he withdrew one statement he said he had made as a "joke".
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Earlier on Friday he appeared in a video surrounded by dozens of corpses
he said were Wagner fighters, and was shown yelling and swearing at
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery
Gerasimov.
"We have a 70% shortage of ammunition. Shoigu! Gerasimov! Where is the
******* ammunition?" he shouted into the camera. His tirade contained a
torrent of expletives that were bleeped out by his press service.
KEY MOMENT IN THE WAR
The announcement comes at a key juncture in the war, with Ukraine
expected to launch a long-anticipated counter-offensive imminently.
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![](../images/050523PIX/news_q71.jpg)
Founder of Wagner private mercenary
group Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves a cemetery before the funeral of
Russian military blogger Maxim Fomin widely known by the name of
Vladlen Tatarsky, who was recently killed in a bomb attack in a St
Petersburg cafe, in Moscow, Russia, April 8, 2023. REUTERS/Yulia
Morozova/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/May/02/images/ads/current/guzzardo_lda022609.png)
It was the second dramatic development in the space of three days,
after Moscow accused Ukraine of firing drones at the Kremlin in the
early hours of Wednesday in an attempt to kill President Vladimir
Putin. Kyiv denied it, and the United States dismissed Kremlin
claims it was behind the incident as "lies".
The Kremlin declined to comment on Prigozhin's statement, citing the
fact it was related to the course of its "special military
operation" in Ukraine.
The written statement - addressed to the head of general staff, the
defence ministry, and Putin as supreme commander - was accompanied
by a video from Prigozhin in which he appeared in full combat gear
in front of dozens of his fighters, an automatic rifle dangling from
his shoulder.
"Because of the lack of ammunition, our losses are increasing
exponentially every day," the statement said.
"My lads will not suffer useless and unjustified losses in Bakhmut
without ammunition," Prigozhin added in the video.
"If, because of your petty jealousy, you do not want to give the
Russian people the victory of taking Bakhmut, that's your problem."
Prigozhin said he was asking Gerasimov to replace Wagner units in
Bakhmut with regular troops, and to specify when this would happen.
The stated withdrawal date of May 10 gives defence chiefs just five
days to fill the gap a Wagner pullout would create. It also
threatens to overshadow national celebrations on May 9, when Russia
commemorates victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two and Putin is
due to address the nation from Red Square.
Prigozhin said he expected to face criticism.
"After a while, there will be clever people who say that we should
have stayed in Bakhmut longer," he said. "Whoever has critical
remarks - come to Bakhmut, you're welcome, stand up with guns in
your hands in place of our killed comrades."
He also promised that Wagner would be back: "We will lick our
wounds, and when the Motherland is in danger, we will rise again to
defend it. The Russian people can count on us."
(Writing by Mark Trevelyan; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Conor
Humphries)
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