Wagner leader accuses Russian troops of fleeing Bakhmut

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The head of the brutal Wagner mercenary group again took aim at the Russian army on Thursday, accusing it of putting its soldiers at risk by fleeing the site of some of the bloodiest fighting in the war.

Yevgeny Prigozhin — who has repeatedly accused Russian military officials of not doing enough to support his paramilitary force — said regular Russian troops are abandoning ground north and south of Bakhmut, the war-torn city where fighting has become so intense, it's been dubbed "the meat grinder."

"Unfortunately, units of the Russian defense ministry have withdrawn up to 570 meters [a third of a mile] to the north of Bakhmut, exposing our flanks," Prigozhin said in a voice message Thursday, according to Reuters.

"I am appealing to the top leadership of the Ministry of Defense — publicly — because my letters are not being read."

Prigozhin then begged Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov not to abandon his mercenary group's flanks.

"Please do not give up the flanks," Prigozhin pleaded.

The Russian defense ministry has acknowledged some withdrawals from positions near Bakhmut over the past week but denies Prigozhin's assertions that the flanks are crumbling.

Wagner troops have long led the assault on the eastern Ukrainian city. The mercenary group claims it has taken most of the city — which would lend Russia a powerful advantage in capturing the rest of the eastern Donbas region bordering Russia.

Ukraine, however, has rejected the claims, boasting that its troops have recently taken back significant territory around Bakhmut.

Prigozhin's claims come days after it was revealed he allegedly offered to betray Russian troop positions to Kyiv if Ukraine agreed to pull out of Bakhmut.

Secret documents disclosed on the instant messaging platform Discord described his alleged attempts to sell out Russian soldiers as part of a quid-pro-quo deal with Ukrainian intelligence, the Washington Post reported.

Prigozhin made the offer in January, just as the war was approaching its first anniversary. He has since dismissed the report as "nonsense," and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed it was a "hoax."

However, the Wagner boss has long been critical of Russia's military establishment, publicly accusing top officials of betraying his men by denying them much-needed ammunition, resulting in unusually high casualty rates.

Prigozhin's feud escalated to new levels earlier this month when he threatened to withdraw his forces from Bakhmut ahead of Russia's May 9 Victory Day celebrations.

In a profanity-laced tirade earlier this month, the catering mogul and close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin stood in front of what he claimed were corpses of his fighters and blasted Shoigu and Gerasimov.

"Shoigu! Gerasimov! Where is the f—ing ammunition?!" Prigozhin demands in the grisly video while standing in front of about 30 blood-soaked uniformed corpses lying on the ground.

"These are someone's fathers and someone's sons," he says, pointing at the bodies. "The bastards that don't give us ammunition will eat their f—ing guts in hell!"

With Post wires