Russian soldiers are deserting their positions in Bakhmut, the head of the Wagner mercenary group has claimed as he told the Kremlin that Moscow was incapable of defending its country.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose influence has risen hugely in Moscow's Ukraine offensive, has in recent days released a series of scathing videos attacking Russia's military leadership.

"Today one of the units of the defence ministry fled from one of our flanks... exposing the front," Prigozhin said in a video. He has threatened to pull his fighters out of Bakhmut on May 10 if he did not receive badly needed ammunition.

The identity of the grandfather figure Prigozhin referred to was unclear, but sufficiently ambiguous to invite speculation.

Prigozhin has previously poured scorn on Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff, but has avoided all personal criticism of President Vladimir Putin.

#ukraine #war #conflict

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