The commander of the special military group Wagner had repeatedly warned against a Ukrainian counterattack which could constitute a “tragedy” for Russia, and had complained of the lack of ammunition among its fighters.
For months, Wagner has been leading the Russian attack on the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, which is the center of fighting between Kiev and Moscow forces.
Prigozhin is an ally of President Vladimir Putin, but as the head of a private military group he is locked in a power struggle with the Russian Defense Ministry.
“We (Wagner) only have 10-15% of the missiles we need,” he said, blaming Russian military leaders for that.
Yevgeny Prigozhin predicted that Ukraine would launch a counterattack in mid-May.
Serious developments in Moscow
The Kremlin announced on Wednesday that it had shot down two Ukrainian drones and accused Kyiv of trying to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin said in a statement: “Two marches were aimed at the Kremlin…both devices were disabled,” describing the operation as “a terrorist act and an attempt to assassinate the President of the Russian Federation.”
The statement read: “Two drones targeted the Kremlin, and following timely measures taken by the military and special services using radar warfare systems, both drones were disabled.”
Talk of the Ukrainian counterattack has dominated political and military circles over the past period.
Recently, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov confirmed that preparations for the Ukrainian army’s counterattack were “nearing completion”, adding: “Equipment has been promised, ready and partially delivered, at broadly speaking, we are ready”.
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