JAKARTA - Russian mercenaries Wagner Group on Sunday abandoned plans to withdraw from Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, saying they had been promised more weapons by Moscow, asking them to continue attacks on springboards to other cities in the Donbas region , Ukraine.
Last Friday, Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces, which have spearheaded the months-long offensive on Bakhmut, would withdraw after running out of ammunition and suffering "useless and unjustified" losses.
But in an audio message posted on his Telegram channel on Sunday, he said: "We have been promised as much ammunition and weapons as we need to continue further operations. We have been promised that all that is necessary to prevent the enemy from cutting us off (from supplies) will be deployed," as reported by Reuters, May 8.
Separately, a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense did not respond to requests for comment, following Prigozhin's latest remarks.
Previously, Russian officials had repeatedly attempted to allay fears that their troops on the front were not receiving adequate supplies. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday, referring to the Russian army as a whole, it had "received a sufficient quantity of ammunition" to effectively inflict damage on enemy forces.
On the Ukrainian side, Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for Ukraine's eastern command, said in response to a Reuters question about Prigozhin's comments that Russian troops had "more than enough ammunition".
He said Prigozhin's comments were aimed at diverting attention from the heavy losses Wagner had suffered by throwing so many troops into battle.
"Four hundred and eighty-nine artillery shells over the past 24 hours in the area around Bakhmut, is that a lack of ammunition?" he asked.
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Prigozhin's threat to withdraw from Bakhmut highlights the pressure on Russian forces as Ukraine makes final preparations for a counteroffensive backed by thousands of armored vehicles, donated Western nations and freshly trained troops.
It is known that the battle for Bakhmut has been some of the fiercest of the conflict, claiming thousands of lives on both sides in a months-long war.
Ukrainian troops had been pushed back in recent weeks, but were holding out in the city to inflict as many Russian losses as possible ahead of a planned major Kyiv offensive against the invading forces along a 1.000 km (620 mi) stretch.
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