Prigozhin says he will withdraw Wagnerites from Bakhmut after 10 May to "lick their wounds"
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), has written a letter to the Russian Defence Ministry, stating that he will withdraw the Wagner PMC mercenaries from Bakhmut after 10 May.
Source Prigozhinʼs press service; Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency RIA Novosti
Quote: "I am officially appealing to the chief of the General Staff, the minister of defence, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the people of Russia. I declare on behalf of the fighters of the Wagner PMC, on behalf of the command of the Wagner PMC, that on 10 May, we will be forced to transfer positions in the settlement of Bakhmut to the units of the Ministry of Defence and withdraw the remnants of the Wagner PMC to the rear camps to lick our wounds. I am withdrawing the Wagner PMC units because with no ammunition, they are doomed to a senseless death."
Details: Prigozhin says that the offensive resources of the mercenaries ran out as early as April, but the Wagnerites continued to advance. However, the defenders' force exceeded them five to one.
At the same time, Prigozhin says that due to the lack of ammunition, the loss of mercenaries is growing dramatically.
The founder of the Wagner PMC promised that on 9 May, in honour of the holiday, the mercenaries would hold their positions, and the very next day, they would leave Bakhmut.
Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, said that the Kremlin had already seen Prigozhin's statement but had nothing to say in response to it. "We saw it [the statement – ed.] in the media, but I cannot comment on it because it concerns the course of the Special Military Operation [war in Ukraine – ed.]," said the Kremlin representative.
Background: Prior to this, Prigozhin published a video showing rows of corpses of "Wagnerians" and lashed out at the leadership of the Russian regular army.
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