Wagner Group withdrawing from Bakhmut

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 06 May 2023 by Alex Teddy

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On May Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin said that his organization will withdraw its men from the Ukrainian city on May 10. He blamed a severe shortage of munitions, which he said had led to unnecessarily high losses. He publicly ranted a week ago that those who decided not to furnish Wagner with sufficient ammunition should have to account for themselves to the mothers of fallen fighters. He named the Defense Minister and the Chief of General Staff as responsible for the lack of ammunition. Astonishingly, Prigozhin delivered his May 5 address in front of the corpses of what he said were Wagner fighters who had been killed due to a lack of ammo. Prigozhin said that Wagner will still be available to fight for Russia. Tellingly, the Kremlin said it had no opinion to offer on this statement. Prigozhin must have permission to say all this. The question is why does the government want him to say it? Is it a disinformation campaign to make Ukraine believe that Russia is abandoning Bakhmut when it fact is not? Wagner was crucial in Russia's 9-month battle in Bakhmut. Since January 2023 it has been the vortex of the war. Wagner and the Russian Defense Ministry have openly sparred.  Wagner is a private company and not part of the Russian Armed Forces. Prigozhin said that the Russian Army had claimed it was responsible for other victories whereas in fact Wagner did the bulk of the fighting.  It is unclear if this means that Russia is abandoning its attempt to take Bakhmut. That would be a significant defeat given that Prigozhin admitted to appalling losses and said Russia had suffered five casualties for every one inflicted. Russia might now be concentrating on defending against t...