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Yevgeny Prigozhin blames Russia for a lack of ammunition and warns that Ukraine is sending its best units to Bakhmut.

The head of Russias Wagner Group said Ukraines counteroffensive will likely start after May 2 as he warned that his mercenary fighters do not have enough ammunition.

Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Wednesday in an audio message posted to the Telegram app that Ukrainian counterattacks were inevitable and that Kyiv is sending well-trained units to the besieged city of Bakhmut, where bloody battles have raged for months.

But we will advance at any cost, just to grind down the Ukrainian army and disrupt their offensive, he said.

Ukrainian troops will start attacking next month, when the weather improves and the ground hardens, he added.

He also questioned why Russian forces had yet to launch missions to take the nearby cities of Sloviansk or Kramatorsk to relieve pressure on Bakhmut.

Ukraines counteroffensive is expected this spring and in recent weeks, officials in Kyiv have said large-scale attacks could happen at any moment.

On April 11, Prigozhin said more than 80 percent of Bakhmut was controlled by his Wagner forces, which Ukraine has denied.

Kyiv has also downplayed the strategic significance of Bakhmut for Moscow, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly refused to withdraw his forces.

If Moscow successfully takes the city, it would be Russias first major advance since a series of losses in the northeastern Kharkiv and southern Kherson regions last year.

Originally posted here:
Ukraines counteroffensive to begin next week, says Wagner boss - Al Jazeera English