Vladimir Putin-linked mercenary group's chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, verbally attacked Russian top brass for depriving his soldiers of munitions.
What Happened: Prigozhin, who is the founder of the Wagner Group helping Russian advances in Ukraine, called it a treasonous attempt to destroy his private military group.
The Russian defense ministry rejected Prigozhin’s accusations about blocking weapons as “absolutely untrue.”
Prigozhin, reiterating his claims of Wagner soldiers being very short of supplies, released a voice note hitting back at the Russian ministry, saying this was “tantamount to nothing more than simply spitting at Wagner.”
“There is simply direct opposition going on (to attempts to equip Wagner fighters),” Prigozhin said in a voice message on his Telegram channel, reported Reuters.
He alleged that “the chief of the general staff and the defense minister are giving orders right and left, not just not to give Wagner PMC (private military company) ammunition, but not to help it with air transport,” adding that “this can be equated to high treason."
The defense ministry, in a statement, said the military officials were doing all they could to supply fighters and “all the statements supposedly made on behalf of assault units about the lack of ammunition are completely untrue.”
Media reports have revealed that Prigozhin, who recently made headlines for his role in the Russia-Ukraine War, is facing growing dissent from the Kremlin. Putin is becoming increasingly concerned about the growing political clout of the mercenary group's chief and has advised state media to stop mentioning him or Wagner by name.
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