For days, Prigozhin has been accusing the Russian military of withholding ammunition from its mercenary troops. Now the population - from the "driver" to the "flight attendant" - should support him in his demand. The call shows how broken the relationship between the Wagner boss and Moscow's army is.
The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner has called on his compatriots to support his demands for ammunition and to put pressure on the army. "If every Russian - this is not a call for rallies - (...) just said: 'Give Wagner ammunition' (...) then that would be very important," said Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin in one of his Press service disseminated sound recording.
The unprecedented call from the head of the mercenary force is further evidence of the level of tension between the mercenary force and the Russian General Staff. For days, Prigozhin has been accusing the Russian high command of not supplying the mercenaries fighting for the town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine with ammunition. In Russia, criticism of the Russian military can be punished with up to 15 years in prison. Several members of the opposition are imprisoned under this law.
In his new audio message, Prigozhin called on Russians from "drivers" to "flight attendants" to raise the issue of ammunition for Wagner. "We will force them to give us ammunition," he said. On Tuesday, Prigozhin accused Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of "betraying" Wagner by failing to deliver the ammunition demanded by the mercenaries.
Russia's defense ministry responded to those allegations on Tuesday with a statement detailing the ammunition that officials said was supplied to the "volunteer assault squadrons" -- a name the army appears to be using for Wagner. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov initially did not comment on the conflict.
