Evguéni Prigojine, head of the Wagner Group, wants to cede his positions in Bachmout to Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov.
The leader of the Wagner paramilitary group, Evguéni Prigojine, said he wanted to cede his positions in Bakhmout to Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov to protest his troops’ lack of ammunition. At the same time, Russia is accusing Ukraine and the West of being behind the car explosion that injured nationalist writer and staunch supporter of the Russian invasion, Zakhar Prilepin. Franceinfo summarizes what to remember on this day of conflict.
Yevgeny Prigoyine wants to cede his positions in Bakhmout to dictator Ramzan Kadyrov
The leader of the paramilitary group Wagner said on Saturday he wanted to surrender his positions to Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov and his troops. In a video released on Thursday, Wagner’s boss threatened to leave the Ukrainian frontline if Moscow didn’t supply its troops with fresh ammunition.
“I ask you to issue a battle order for the transfer of the positions of the Wagner group to the units of the Akhmat battalion in the village of Bakhmout and its surroundings by midnight on May 10,” Yevgeny Prigoyine said in a letter to the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, published by his press service. The Wagner boss specified this request “due to a long lack of ammunition” and accused the workforce of only having made 32% of the requested quantity available to him since last October.
On Telegram, Ramzan Kadyrov asserted that his troops were “ready to advance towards” Bakhmout. “I have already signed a letter addressed to the Commander-in-Chief with the will to return the city and cleanse it of Otab,” he said. Without specifying the Kremlin’s response to Wagner’s request, Ramzan Kaydrov assured that he had “already started to develop [une] Strategy of action with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, taking into account enemy tactics and the resources at our disposal”.
Russian nationalist writer Zakhar Prilepin injured in car explosion
This supporter of the Kremlin attack in Ukraine was injured in the “explosion” of his car in Russia on Saturday, while his driver was killed, according to the Russian Interior Ministry. Authorities said a suspect was arrested in the Nizhny Novgorod region (central-west), where the crimes took place. Investigators say he acted on behalf of Ukraine.
Russian diplomatic spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine, the United States, Britain and NATO of being behind the “terrorist” act. “Responsibility for this and other terrorist attacks rests not only with the Ukrainian authorities, but also with their Western sponsors, most notably the United States,” the State Department said in a statement, adding, “The silence of the international organizations concerned is unacceptable.” .Kiev has denied any involvement.
The 47-year-old writer, a well-known figure on the Russian literary scene, translated to several countries, campaigned for the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014, with whom he fought. Since then he has regularly traveled to eastern Ukraine and defended President Vladimir Putin and his massive offensive against Kiev launched on February 24, 2022.
Six Ukrainian minesweepers were killed by Russian fire
Six Ukrainians were killed by Russian gunfire on Saturday while taking part in a demining operation in the southern Kherson region, the country’s emergency services said.
Russia says it shot down Ukrainian ballistic missiles over Crimea
The ballistic missile was “taken from a Ukrainian Grom-2 system,” Sergei Aksionov, head of Moscow-installed Crimea, said on Telegram on Saturday. There is “no destruction or casualties,” he said. According to the Russian state news agency TASS, this is only the second time that authorities over Crimea have reported the use of Ukrainian Grom missiles. The first report is from last month. Since the summer of 2022, Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, has been regularly hit by explosions and attacks by aerial drones and sometimes by surface (naval) drones.
The Russian crew does not plan to evacuate employees of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
The Russian occupation administration at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine assured on Saturday that after the announcement of partial evacuations in the area, no evacuation of site employees was planned for the time being, out of fear of a Ukrainian offensive. “Keep calm,” Yuri Chernichuk, appointed by the Russian authorities, said in a statement.
The day before, Moscow-appointed regional official Evguéni Balitski had announced partial evacuation of 18 places under Russian occupation in the Zaporijjia region, specifically in Energodar. According to Evguéni Balitski, these “temporary” evacuations primarily concern children with their parents, the elderly and disabled, hospital patients who, according to him, are facing the increase in Ukrainian bombings in recent days.