Screenshot/Press Service of Prigozhin/Telegram
- Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said Friday that his troops will pull out of Bakhmut on May 10.
- Prigozhin has been complaining about the lack of Russian military support in Bakhmut for months.
- In a video posted Thursday, Prigozhin was screaming and cursing at the Kremlin's military officials.
Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said Friday that he plans on pulling his troops out of Bakhmut after posting an expletive-filled tirade against Russian military chiefs.
"I withdraw units of PMC Wagner because in the absence of ammunition, they are doomed to a senseless death," Prigozhin said in a statement published by his press service on Telegram, adding that his troops are retreating to "lick their wounds."
The month-long battle for Bakhmut has been one of the bloodiest fights of the war so far, with thousands of soldiers dying on both sides. Wagner's ground troops, led by Prigozhin, are one of Russia's main forces deployed there.
Prigozhin said he will pull his troops out on May 10.
It was unclear whether Prigozhin's comments were a serious declaration of intent, considering the Wagner boss has previously made sarcastic comments and threats he has not followed through with.
His statement comes after he released a tirade against Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Valery Gerasimov, who Putin tasked with running the war in Ukraine.v.
In the video, which was also released on Telegram, Wagner complained that the mercenary group was running short of ammunition, adding that military leaders who refuse to help will "have their insides eaten in hell."
"We have a 70% ammo shortage! Shoigu! Gerasimov! Where the [beep] is the ammo?" he said in the video.
"You animals are hanging out in expensive clubs," he continued. "Your children are enjoying their lives, making videos for YouTube. Do you think that you are the masters of this life and that you have the right to control their lives?"
Prigozhin's statement tops off months of public feuding between the Wagner boss and Russia's military chiefs. He has repeatedly claimed his troops are running out of supplies and accused Russia's top brass of cutting him off.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin had no response to Prigozhin's latest statement "because it concerns the course of the [war in Ukraine]," Ukrainian news outlet Pravda reported.
The Kremlin did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.