Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia's Wagner Group mercenary force, said in a sudden and dramatic announcement on Friday that his forces would leave the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut that they have been trying to capture since last summer.
Prigozhin said they would pull back on May 10 - ending their involvement in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war - because of heavy losses and inadequate ammunition supplies. He asked defence chiefs to insert regular army troops in their place.
Wagner has been spearheading Russia's long and costly attempt to capture Bakhmut and Prigozhin said three weeks ago that his men controlled more than 80% of the city. Earlier on Friday he appeared in a video surrounded by dozens of corpses he said were Wagner fighters, and yelling and swearing at Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov. He said they were to blame for Wagner's losses because they had starved it of ammunition.Bakhmut, a town of 70,000 people before the start of the war, has taken on huge symbolic importance for both sides because of the sheer intensity and duration of the fighting there.
"Because of the lack of ammunition, our losses are increasing exponentially every day," the statement said.
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