Today: 8 May 2025
8 May 2023
3 mins read

Russia to supply Wagner group more weapons

Bakhmut has limited strategic value but has taken on great symbolic weight with the duration and unprecedented violence of the fighting…reports Asian Lite News

The owner of the Wagner mercenary group said on Sunday that Moscow “promised” more ammunition and weapons to continue the fight for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. It was a risk the Russian Military command did not want to take.

In an audio message released on Sunday, the owner and financier of the notorious mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, withdrew his threat to pull his troops out of the Bakhmut area, after securing a pledge from the government.

“Last night we received an order to fight (…). They promise to give us all the ammunition and weapons we need to continue operations,” Prigozhin said.

“We are assured that everything necessary will be provided to our flanks (around Bakhmut) so that the enemy does not break through and we are told that we can act in Artiomovsk (the Soviet name for Bakhmut) as we see fit,” he added.

In a video message released on Friday, Prigozhin blasted the Russian army leadership and vowed to pull his troops out of Bakhmut, the epicentre of the fighting in Ukraine, if they did not receive more material support.

He also accused the high command of being responsible for “tens of thousands” of Russians being killed and wounded in Ukraine, as the threat of a Ukrainian counteroffensive backed by Western-supplied weapons looms.

The oligarch then asked the Russian Defence Minister on Saturday to hand Bakhmut operations over to Chechen troops headed by Ramzan Kadyrov.

“I ask you to issue a battle order on the transfer, before midnight on 10 May, of the positions of the Wagner group to the units of the Akhmat battalion in the locality of Bakhmut and its surroundings,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a letter published by his press office addressed to the Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu.

The head of Wagner said he was making this request “because of a long shortage of ammunition”, accusing the general staff of having supplied him with only 32% of the requested ammunition since  October.

Bakhmut has limited strategic value but has taken on great symbolic weight with the duration and unprecedented violence of the fighting.

Wagner’s troops have launched extremely deadly waves of assault against the city, which has been transformed into a field of ruins and is, according to Moscow, more than 90% controlled by Russian forces.

Prigozhin added on Sunday that General Sergei Surovikin would henceforth take “all decisions concerning the military operations in Wagner in cooperation with the Russian Ministry of Defence”.

“He is the only person with the stars of an army general who knows how to fight,” Prigozhin said.

The notoriously ruthless general Surovikin was appointed commander of Russian forces in Ukraine in October, much to the satisfaction of Yevgeny Prigozhin, and coordinated the Russian army’s withdrawal from the city of Kherson.

But he was replaced in January by General Valery Guerasimov, the chief of staff of the army, who is regularly criticised by Wagner’s boss.

On the Telegram messaging service, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov responded to Prigozhin’s comments by saying his fighters were ready to occupy Russian positions in Bakhmut if the Wagner group did indeed withdraw its units.

“Our fighters are ready to move in and occupy the city. It would take a few hours,” Ramzan Kadyrov said, indicating that his troops had already fought alongside Wagner’s in the Ukrainian cities of Popasna, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which Russia had conquered.

If deployed, the Kadyrovites could face off against another Chechen group fighting for the Ukrainian side, the Sheikh Mansur Battalion.

The volunteer group joined the fight hoping to secure Ukraine’s freedom and revenge for past actions Russia has taken against their families and homeland in Chechnya.

ALSO READ-Rise of Russia and China in West Africa alarms West

Previous Story

‘Indians become second-largest migrant group crossing Channel illegally’

Next Story

Digipaaji.com driving a global revolution in digital marketing

Latest from -Top News

India Strikes Terror Bases in Pakistan

‘Justice is served’, says Indian Army as Operation Sindoor unfolds In a significant military response to the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 civilian lives, the Indian Army on Wednesday

UAE Reopens Doors to Lebanon

The prime minister expressed Lebanon’s “utmost gratitude and appreciation to the UAE” and President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan….reports Asian Lite News Lebanon welcomed the decision by the United Arab Emirates

SYRIA RAIDS: Arab League Slams Israel

The Arab League condemned the airstrikes and called on the international community and the United Nations to confront what it described as “repeated violations committed by Israel against the Syrian state.” The

India Rises, Africa Watches 

While struggling economies in Africa engulf themselves in ideological battles and take sides in the tariff battles, nations like India are placing their national interest first and navigating Global Trade challenges in

WAVES 2025: Jaishankar Advocates Cultural Pluralism

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar delivered a powerful address at the WAVES 2025 Global Media Dialogue, highlighting the significance of cultural pluralism in shaping global change. Speaking on the second day of
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Russia puts Estonian PM on wanted list  

Putting Estonia’s leader on the wanted list marks a further

Russia says three killed in Crimea bridge blast

The blast ripped through the 19-kilometer bridge more than seven