The ultimatum will therefore have worked. After threatening to withdraw from Bakhmout, accusing the Russian general staff of depriving Wagner of ammunition, Evgueni Prigojine, the leader of the paramilitary group, prevailed. He claimed on Sunday, May 7, that he had "a promise" from the Russian military to receive more ammunition and armaments.
He also claims that General Sergei Surovikin will now take "all decisions regarding Wagner's military operations in cooperation with the Russian Defense Ministry". "He's the only person with army general's stars who knows how to fight," Yevgeny Prigozhin said.
General Surovikin was appointed commander of the Russian forces in Ukraine last October, to the great satisfaction of Yevgueni Prigojine, shortly before the withdrawal of the Russian army from Kherson in the face of a Ukrainian offensive. But Sergei Surovikin was then replaced in January in this post by General Valeri Guerassimov, the chief of staff of the armies, very regularly criticized by the boss of Wagner.
