Wagner chief says Putin is being fed lies about Russian battlefield losses
T
he chief of Russian non-public navy group Wagner has accused high officers of mendacity to President Vladimir Putin and the general public concerning the scale of Russian losses in Ukraine.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose Wagner non-public militia spearheaded the Russian seize of the Ukrainian metropolis of Bakhmut final month, is resisting an order for mercenary teams like his to signal contracts with the Defence Ministry earlier than July 1.
Mr Prigozhin portrays Wagner as Russia’s handiest preventing pressure, and has loved uncommon freedom to publicly criticise Moscow, however not of Putin, on whose help he and Wagner in the end rely.
In a collection of emotional audio messages over two days, Mr Prigozhin escalated his repeated criticism of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, a detailed Putin ally, and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff – by accusing them of hiding Russia’s “very serious losses on the front” from Putin.
He mentioned in a single message: “Total trash is being put on the president’s desk. Shoigu and Gerasimov have a simple approach. The lie must be monstrous for people to believe it. That is what they are doing.
“It’s all being hidden from everyone. Russia will wake up one day and learn that (Russian-annexed) Crimea has been handed over to the Ukrainians …
“They are misleading the Russian people and if it keeps on like this we’ll be left without the most important thing: Russia.”
There was no instant response from the Defence Ministry, which has publicly ignored earlier complaints.
But it repeatedly says Russian troops have repelled all of the assaults that Ukraine has launched in its two-week-old counteroffensive, inflicting a heavy value in tools and manpower whereas struggling solely small losses itself.
Ukraine has reported modest advances, which President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says have been “slower than desired”.
On Friday President Zelenskiy mentioned there can be personnel modifications following an inquest into the state of Ukraine’s bomb shelters.
The nationwide investigation was launched after the deaths of three individuals who had been locked out of a bomb shelter in Kyiv throughout a Russian missile strike.
“There will be personnel decisions,” Zelenskiy mentioned in a press release, with out saying who the modifications would have an effect on.