The Wagner Group asked Moscow to hand over control of Bakhmut to Chechen soldiers

First modification: 05/06/2023 – 20:08

The war in Ukraine continues to develop with the main focus on Bakhmut, the scene of the main fighting in recent months. However, after the troops of the Wagner group took a large part of the town, their advances have stalled due to the repeated claims of Russian mercenaries to Moscow.

This Saturday, May 6, the paramilitary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin asked the Kremlin to hand over the combat posts of its units to the Chechen troops, in a new claim against the Russian administration, which he accuses of not sending the necessary weapons to resist.

“I ask you to issue a combat order before 00:00 on May 10 on the transfer of the positions of Wagner’s paramilitary units in Bakhmut and its periphery to the units of the Akhmat battalion,” Prigozhin said in a letter. sent to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Wagner’s leader added that only two square kilometers remain to be taken, a mission that can be accomplished “undoubtedly by Akhmat’s forces,” who, according to his vision, can obtain the necessary weapons from the Kremlin.

The Akhmat battalion, of Chechen origin, belongs to Ramzan Kadyrov, a strong figure who has ruled Chechnya, a Muslim-majority republic in Russia, for more than a decade.

This comes days after Prigozhin denounced a significant shortage of ammunition and announced that Wagner will leave the front in Bakhmut on May 10. In his accusations, he added that the military portfolio has only deployed 32% of the supplies requested since October 2022.

Ukrainian civilian detained over Prilepin attack

A man was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the attack against the popular pro-Russian writer, Zajar Prilepin, who this Saturday, May 6, was injured after an explosion in his car, which caused the death of its driver.

“In the Nizhny Novgorod region, police officers detained a man they were chasing and who may have been involved in the explosion of the car in which Prilepin was traveling,” Interior Ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk said.

The official TASS agency detailed that the person involved in question is a citizen of Ukrainian origin, born in 1993 and with a criminal record.

The Russian Investigative Committee called the blow against the nationalist thinker, who was fighting in Donbass between 2016 and 2018 and who was currently fighting in Ukraine, a “terrorist act”.

Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners

On the other hand, kyiv highlighted this Saturday that 45 fighters returned to Ukrainian soil. Those involved were part of the Azov battalion that was captured after heavy fighting in the port city of Mariupol. The head of Volodimir Zelenski’s office, Andriy Yermak, explained that three of the captives were women.

In return, Moscow received three pilots who were in Ukrainian custody. However, neither party gave further details of this exchange.

Moscow is not satisfied with the grain deal

Meanwhile, after the meeting with the secretary general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, Rebeca Grynspan, Russia remains dissatisfied with the way the problem of Russian agricultural exports is being resolved as part of the Black Sea grain deal.

“We are still not satisfied with the progress,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin told RT.

While those Russian exports are not subject to Western sanctions, Moscow maintains that restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance are a barrier to shipments.

However, in the coming days there will be a new conclave between the deputy ministers of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN to seek progress before the deal is finalized on May 18.

With EFE and AFP