PMC ‘Wagner’ is preparing to leave Bakhmut, to be replaced by ‘Akhmat‘

After the bloody battles for Bakhmut lasting almost 8 months, PMC ‘Wagner’ is likely to leave its positions. This was stated by the head of PMC ‘Wagner’ Prigozhin.

Evgeny Prigozhin said that due to the ‘shell hunger’, the fighters of the Wagner PMC will move away from Bakhmut after May 10 and hand over their positions to the troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation:

On May 10, 2023, we leave the city of Bakhmut. We have only 2 kilometers left to take out of 45. But if, due to petty envy, you do not want to give victory to the Russians in the capture of Bakhmut, this is your problem.

Prigozhin recently released an emotional video where, against the backdrop of the corpses of Wagner PMC fighters, he sharply criticized in obscene form the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu and the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov due to the lack of ammunition supplied to the Wagner group in Bakhmut.

At the same time, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that the Akhmat battalion was ready to replace the Wagner PMC forces in Bakhmut in his usual manner:

Yes, if older brother Prigozhin and “Wagner” leave, then the General Staff will lose an experienced combat unit, and his younger brother Kadyrov and “Akhmat” will come to his place in Artyomovsk. If the scenario is still like this, then our fighters are ready to advance and occupy the city.

All these events are taking place against the background of the expected counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The special rapid reaction unit ‘Akhmat’ has about 1,000 people according to official sources and is based in Chechnya. Since February 2022, Akhmat fighters have been participating in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine. For their numerous videos from Ukraine and posing in military uniform with weapons, the Akhmat battalion was aptly nicknamed the Tik-Tok Troops.
In August 2022, a video was circulated on social networks showing a fighter from the Akhmat battalion castrating a Ukrainian prisoner of war. Servicemen of the ‘Akhmat’ battalion are also involved in other crimes on the territory of Ukraine.