Kyiv, May 5

The owner of Russia’s Wagner military contractor threatened on Friday to withdraw his troops next week from the protracted battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, accusing Moscow’s military command of starving his forces of ammunition.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a wealthy entrepreneur with longtime links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, claimed that Wagner fighters had planned to capture Bakhmut by May 9, Russia’s Victory Day holiday celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany. But they were undersupplied and suffering heavy losses, he said, and would hand over operations to the regular army on May 10. It is not the first time Prigozhin has raged about ammunition shortages and blamed Russia’s military, with which he has long been in conflict. Known for bluster, he has previously made unverifiable claims and threats

Prigozhin’s spokespeople also published a video of him Friday shouting, swearing and pointing at about 30 uniformed bodies lying on the ground. — AP