The crisis broke out between the Russian army and Wagner.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that statements by the Russian security company Wagner that there were problems with the supply of ammunition were not factual.
The Russian Defense Ministry made a statement after remarks by Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigojin that no ammunition was supplied to his personnel fighting in Ukraine. The statement stressed that it was important to provide the soldiers on the front with the necessary materials, that Russian troops advanced more than 2 kilometers towards Bahmut in the last 2 days, and this was possible with artillery, armored vehicles and other weapons.
The statement included the following statements:
“Despite the difficult weather conditions around Artyomovsk (Bahmut), fighter jets have made 18 flights in support of the strikes in the past few days. For this reason, all the statements about the lack of ammunition by the assault units are not at all factual. Between 18 and 20 February, 1,660 multi-barreled rocket launchers, 10,171 ammunition for the mortar and 980 ammunition for the tank were delivered to the volunteers of the assault units. All requests related to the supply of ammunition to the assault units are fulfilled as soon as possible”.
‘AMMMUNITION PROBLEM IS NOT RESOLVED’
On the other hand, the founder of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigojin, in a statement prior to the Ministry’s statement, stated that a sufficient amount of ammunition was produced in Russia, but problems with its supply were not resolved.
Noting that the necessary support was provided to military officers at all levels in this regard, Prigojin said:
“I cannot solve this problem despite all my contacts. Everything stays in place. No decision is made about it. No one knows how the ammunition supply limits and procedures came to be. No one knows the ways to sign the required documents. They all pointed their fingers at me and said: ‘Your relations with that place are not simple, so you must apologize to your superiors and obey, only then can your soldiers get ammunition.’ he says she. Who should I apologize to? Who should I obey? Please tell who should I apologize to, 140 million Russian citizens, so that my soldiers die twice as many as today.”
ALLEGED ‘BREAKTHROUGH’
In a video that appeared in the Russian press last week, Wagner’s mercenaries claimed they were out of ammunition and wanted the support of the Russian Defense Ministry.
Prigojin also made a written statement about the call in the video, noting that the mercenaries did not use a slanderous expression against the Russian Defense Ministry and only expressed their demands for ammunition: “I have visited all the offices I know of in Moscow and I will. continue these visits until our children get what they need. Even if they handcuffed me in one of these offices for allegedly discrediting the army, ”he said.
In a British Defense Ministry statement on February 11, it was claimed that the rivalry between Wagner and the Russian Defense Ministry has recently increased and that Wagner can no longer use prisoners in Russian prisons on the Ukrainian front.
In some news stories in various press organizations in Western countries, it was claimed that the Russian Defense Ministry had warned the Russian media not to use the names of Wagner and Prigojin in the news. (AA)