Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of a Russian mercenary organization Wagneraccused unnamed officials of deliberately refusing to provide his fighters with enough ammunition amid ongoing rivalry between him and parts of the Russian elite.

Prigozhin, once a publicly shunned businessman, has taken an even more public role in Russia’s political life since the beginning of his reign. war in Ukraine a year ago, when the Wagner group led Russia’s months-long battle for the town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.

In a seven-minute audio message released today by his press office, a visibly angry and emotionally charged Prigozhin said he was asked to “apologize and submit” in order to provide ammunition for his troops.

Speaking at times in a raised voice and occasionally cursing, he said: “I am not able to solve this problem, despite all my connections and contacts.”

Prigozhin said that Russia’s military production is now sufficient to supply the forces fighting at the front, and that the supply difficulties faced by its fighters are the result of conscious decisions.

“Those who interfere with our efforts to win this war are absolutely and directly working for the enemy,” he said.

From the start of the conflict, Prigozhin publicly bickered with generals and Kremlin officials, accusing them of not being diligent enough in the campaign against Kyiv. He directs his sharpest criticism at the Russian Ministry of Defense, which he accused of trying to appropriate Wagner’s successes on the battlefield.

In his audio message, Prigozhin said unnamed individuals, whom he blames for the lack of ammunition, “eat breakfast, lunch and dinner on golden plates” and send their relatives on vacation to Dubai, a popular destination for the Russian elite.

The White House said last week that the Wagner group had lost more than 30,000 people since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with about 9,000 of them killed in action. About 90 percent of those killed in Ukraine since December have been convicted, according to a White House report on prisoners recruited by Prigozhin.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}