Putin’s forces divided as Wagner Group boss slams Kremlin over mercenary deaths

THE boss of Wagner Group has branded Putin defence chiefs “scum” who get fat in offices while leaving his mercenary troops to die without ammunition.

Yevgeny Prigozhin also vowed to withdraw his forces from the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

In a video rant released online, he shines a torch on corpses and says: “Listen b*****s! These are someone’s fathers, someone’s sons.

“These f***s who are not giving us ammunition will be eating their guts in hell.”

Addressing Russia defence minister Sergei Shoigu and armed forces commander General Valery Gerasimov, he raged: “Where’s the ammunition?

“They came here as volunteers and die for you to fatten yourselves in your mahogany offices.”

In a second clip, Prigozhin, 61, directly addressed Putin and said his troops would abandon Bakhmut after Russia’s May 9 parades for Victory Day in WW2.

Prigozhin was known as Putin’s chef after his catering firm was contracted to supply food to the Kremlin.

But the pair have fallen out and Prigozhin has missed a series of deadlines to capture Bakhmut.

About 20,000 Russians, including the Wagner guns-for-hire, have been killed or maimed in the city.

Prigozhin recruited his men from prisons and promised them their freedom if they survived six months on the front.

Ukraine warned his video rants could be a trick as Wagner fighters were withdrawing from other parts of the front and concentrating on bomb-blitzed Bakhmut.

Kyiv’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said Russia was desperately trying to seize it by May 9.

It comes as both sides prepare for major offensives to break the stalemate.

A Kremlin stooge in occupied Zaporizhzhia province in eastern Ukraine said civilians were being evacuated amid fears of a push.

Britain’s Defence Intelligence agency said drone strikes on fuel depots and supply trains had hamstrung Russia.

US officials said Russia has lost 100,000 soldiers in the past six months with 20,000 killed – mostly around Bakhmut.