Russian paramilitary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said yesterday he had received "a promise" of more ammunition from the Russian army after he threatened to pull his frontline Wagner troops out of Bakhmut.

Edited by | ALEXANDER YAXINIA
WORLD SECTION
8 MAY 2023 - MOSCOW

     They promised to give us all the ammunition and armaments we need to continue the operations," said Prigozhin, following his blistering attack on military chiefs over the situation in Bakhmut, the epicenter of Ukraine's fight against Moscow's forces.

He said they had been assured "that everything necessary will be provided" to fighters around Bakhmut.

Prigozhin's Wagner group has spearheaded the grinding, months-long Russian assault on Bakhmut, almost capturing the city in the longest and bloodiest battle of the War.
Prigozhin however threatened to leave his positions in Bakhmut on May 10 due to a lack of weapons, which he blamed on Russian army chiefs.

He warned that he would "pull out Wagner units from Bakhmut because, in the absence of ammunition, they are facing a senseless death".

While Prigozhin had made similar threats to pull out in the past, the emotive language used in Friday's video statement and the scathing personal criticism of the leaders of Russia's war in Ukraine were unprecedented. The rivalry between his private military group and the conventional army has come to the surface during the battle for Bakhmut.

Meanwhile, a Russian fighter jet intercepted a Polish plane on patrol for the EU's border agency over the Black Sea, causing the pilots to temporarily lose control of the aircraft, Warsaw said yesterday.

According to Poland's border force, the Russian Sukhoi Su-35 plane did not make radio contact before carrying out "aggressive and dangerous manoeuvres, approaching the border guard plane three times without keeping to the required safety distance".

The Polish plane, an L-410 Turbolet, experienced turbulence and the crew temporarily "lost control of the aircraft and lost altitude", the border force said.

It added the Russian plane flew just in front of the nose of the aircraft and crossed its path at a distance of "around five metres" (16 feet).

Government spokesman Piotr Muller told Polish television it was a "planned provocation by Russia".

Late Saturday, Romania's defence ministry, which first reported the move, condemned Moscow's "aggressive and dangerous" behaviour. Romania said the Polish plane was on a routine Frontex patrol with Romanian border police Friday when it was intercepted. The Polish aircraft landed safely in Romania afterwards.

Romanian and Spanish planes were put on "pre-alert" by Nato, the Romanian statement added.

It took place "in international airspace over the Black Sea," around 60 kilometres (37 miles) east of Romania's airspace, said the ministry. "This incident is further evidence of the provocative approach of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea," said Bucharest.

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