Bakhmut
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s mercenary force the Wagner Group, said Monday that one of his representatives was denied access to the headquarters of Russia’s “special military operation.”
Prigozhin said on his business’ Telegram channel that he’d written to the commander of the “special military operation,” as Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine, about the “urgent need to allocate ammunition” to Wagner units fighting in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
Then, Prigozhin said, on Monday morning “my representative at the headquarters had his pass canceled and was denied access to the group’s headquarters,” according to a Google translation of his comment.
The Wagner Group founder said his units “continue to smash the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Bakhmut.” But at the weekend, Prigozhin claimed that his fighters were being deprived of ammunition and that if they had to retreat from Bakhmut, the whole front line would collapse.
Wagner forces, made up of mercenary fighters and men recruited from Russian prisons who are fighting in return for an early release from jail, have made slow but steady progress in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Fighting is particularly intense in Bakhmut, with Prigozhin claiming last Friday that his forces have “practically surrounded” the city. Prigozhin has previously openly criticized Russia’s military leaders, however, creating a significant rift between Wagner and the Russian Defense Ministry and Kremlin.
