Prigozhin Reveals Rows of Dead Wagner Troops, Curses Russian Army Leaders

Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of Russian paramilitary outfit the Wagner Group, published a heated video aimed at Russia's defense minster and war commander on Thursday, blaming them and their lack of support for the deaths of his fighters.

In a continuation of his reiterated pleas for more ammunition to assist his troops in the battle for the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, Prigozhin published an expletive-ridden clip, standing in front of rows of what he claims are his fighters who were killed in battle.

Prigozhin's Wagner Group has been heavily involved in the fight for Bakhmut—a small industrial city with a pre-war population of 70,000, where Russian and Ukrainian forces have clashed since the summer of 2022. In recent weeks, Prigozhin has asked Russia's Defense Ministry to urgently deliver more ammunition. On April 29, he threatened to pull his fighters out of the city if the ministry failed to deliver more supplies "immediately."

Prigozhin released the video hours before announcing his fighters will leave Bakhmut on May 10 due to a shortage of ammunition.

"You scum sit there in your expensive clubs. Your kids are all getting off on life, recording their little YouTube videos. You think you're masters of this life. You think, if you have stockpiles of ammunition, then you have a right to it," Prigozhin said in his video message to Sergei Shoigu, Russia's defense minster, and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov.

"We're talking about basic calculations: if you hand over the ammo quota, there'd be five times fewer [dead]," he said.

"[These men] came here as volunteers, and they're dying so you can get fat in your offices of rich mahogany. These are somebody's f*****g fathers. Somebody's sons. And those scum who aren't giving [us] the ammunition will f*****g eat their f*****g guts in hell," Prigozhin said.

He continued: "We're 70-percent short on ammo. Shoigu, Gerasimov, where's the f*****g ammo? F*****g look at them!"

His latest plea for more ammunition came after Shoigu said Russia's Armed Forces "have already received enough ammunition to inflict effective fire damage on the enemy."

Shoigu said in a meeting with Russia's top military officials on Tuesday that Moscow had taken the necessary steps to expand the production of weapons and military equipment for the supply of the country's forces in the ongoing war.

Rob Lee, a senior fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute, wrote in a tweet that the Wagner Group "has long had a significant artillery advantage in Bakhmut and received preferential support."

The apparent lack of support by Moscow to Prigozhin's fighters is likely a reflection of Russia's defense ministry (MoD) rationing ammunition before Ukraine's upcoming counteroffensive, he said.

"The MoD has to defend the whole front but Prigozhin only cares about taking Bakhmut," said Lee.

Lee said in another tweet: "Wagner and Prigozhin have always represented a unity of command problem in this war. Putin likes to use competing factions as a way to maintain power but that is very damaging in a military operation."

Prigozhin previously accused the Russian government of lying about providing the Wagner Group with the ammunition it needs, saying that "this can be equated to high treason."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's defense ministry for comment via email.

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