Head of Wagner mercenary group complains about lack of ammunition

MOSCOW

Head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner Evgeny Prigozhin complained about lack of ammunition due to controversies with Russian military officials.

In a statement on Telegram on Monday, Prigozhin said the Russian defense industry produces enough ammunition but that "no one has any understanding" of how to get it.

"This is a serious problem. ... I can't solve this problem, despite all my acquaintances and connections," he said.

According to Prigozhin, middle- and high-rank military officers support his group as much as they can, recommending to him at the same time "to go and apologize, pointing a finger upward."

"To whom should I apologize? 140 million Russians, tell me, to whom should I apologize so that my guys die twice less often than it happens today?" he questioned.

"Someone ... at his own conscious, at his own mood, accepts these or those decisions, give or not these shells to us. At this time, someone dies, because we don't have ammunition to stop the opponent's artillery," he said.

Prigozhin stressed that requests are written every day according to the agreed regulations, submitted to the relevant authorities, but after that, "no one knows who should give the answer and where the requests go."

"Those who prevent us from winning this war, they are directly, absolutely directly, working for the enemy," he stressed.

He added that he blames no one, and does not reproach decision-makers for living in safety, "eating from the golden vessels" and sending their women for holiday abroad, he just urges to leave aside whims and to arrange normal supplies of ammunition.

"I'm just asking -- give me ammunition. This is not an extremist statement or an attempt to offend someone, and I'm sorry if something is wrong. Give ammunition in the right quantity, which is stored in warehouses," he said.

Earlier, Prigozhin claimed that "monstrous bureaucracy" is behind the slow advancement of the Russian army near Ukraine's city of Bakhmut, which, according to him, "will not be taken in the near future."

Bakhmut is a large transport hub through which the Ukrainian troops in Donbas are supplied with weapons, military equipment, and ammunition.