Wagner Boss Yevgeny Prigozhin Says Russian Troops Fleeing Front Lines

May 09, 2023
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The boss of the Wagner Group said Russian troops fled from the front lines of the war in Ukraine.

Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin made the claims in a scathing video posted on Tuesday.

"They all fled and opened up a front almost two kilometers wide and 500 meters deep," he said.

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The boss of the notorious Russian paramilitary Wagner Group said that some of the Kremlin's forces "abandoned their positions" and ran away from the frontlines of Moscow's war with Ukraine.

In a video published to Telegram on Tuesday, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin mocked the Russian troops as he detailed how they ran from their positions near the war-torn Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

"So today, one of the units of the Ministry of Defense fled from one of our flanks, abandoned their positions," Prigozhin said. "They all fled and opened up a front almost two kilometers [1.24 miles] wide and 500 meters [1,640 feet] deep."

Prigozhin said in the video — posted ahead of Russia's annual Victory Day parade — that the Russian troops ran off because of "stupid" and "criminal" orders given by senior military commanders, according to a translation by The Moscow Times.

"Soldiers should not die because of the absolute stupidity of their leadership," Prigozhin said, according to the news outlet.

Additionally, Prigozhin, who recently threatened to pull his fighters from Bakhmut over ammunition shortages, threatened to publish a video by the end of the Victory Day parade spilling more details on the situation on the front lines if the Kremlin does not send more ammunition.

"What if we get the ammunition, after all? Then we won't show it," Prigozhin said.

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It's unclear whether Prigozhin got the ammunition he demanded by the end of the Victory Day parade.

Wagner Group fighters have played a key role in the battle that has been playing out in Bakhmut for months.

Prigozhin has long been a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin but has accused Russia's top brass of cutting him off and blamed Putin for the death of his fighters in Ukraine.

Translations by Oleksandr Vynogradov

Source: Business Insider