The commander of Russia’s Wagner private army has stated that it is not receiving the ammunition it requires from Moscow as it seeks control of Bakhmut.
Wagner and regular Russian forces are attempting to seize the eastern city from Ukraine.
But Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has complained of a lack of ammunition, saying it could be “ordinary bureaucracy or a betrayal”.
Wagner’s relationship with Moscow appears to be deteriorating.
The Wagner group has tens of thousands of troops in Ukraine, some of whom were recruited directly from Russian prisons, and has played an important role in Moscow’s invasion.
Mr Prigozhin stated in the post on Sunday that documents were signed on February 22nd, with ammunition expected to be delivered to Bakhmut the following day.
However, the majority has not been shipped, he said, before suggesting that this could be on purpose.
Separately, in a video posted on Saturday but filmed in February, Mr Prigozhin expressed concern that his men would be “set up” as scapegoats if Russia lost its war in Ukraine.
“If we take a step back, we will go down in history as the people who took the main step in losing the war,” he said.
“And this is exactly the issue with that same shell hunger [ammunition shortage]. This is not my opinion, but the opinion of ordinary fighters…
“What if they [the Russian authorities] want to set us up as scoundrels, and that’s why they don’t give us ammunition, weapons, or allow us to replenish our personnel, including from among the imprisoned?”
Mr Prigozhin stated in the video on Saturday that Russia’s front line would collapse without his troops.
“If Wagner PMC [private military company] withdraws from Bakhmut now, the entire front will crumble, and Wagner PMC is cementing it today.
“On the one hand, we are drawing the entire Ukrainian army onto ourselves, grinding and destroying it, and preventing it from concentrating in other areas of the front.
“On the other hand, we are moving forward, and the rest [an obvious reference to the Russian military] are being forced to catch up in order to save face.”
Mr Prigozhin complained last month that Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov were withholding munitions from his troops.
What is the Wagner Group of Russian mercenaries in Ukraine?
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukraine’s troops are likely conducting a “limited fighting withdrawal” in eastern Bakhmut.
It added, however, that Ukraine was “continuing to inflict high casualties” on Russian forces.
The ISW said the Russian military relied on Wagner in the months-long effort to seize Bakhmut and has since “reinforced Wagner forces in Bakhmut with Russian airborne elements and mobilized personnel”.
The deputy mayor of Bakhmut told the BBC on Saturday that there was street fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
However, according to Oleksandr Marchenko, Russian troops have not yet taken control.
“They have no intention of saving the city… their only intention is to kill people and commit genocide against the Ukrainian people,” Mr Marchenko told Today.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian military officials said leaders of Russia’s 155th Brigade fighting near the town of Vuhledar, south of Bakhmut, resisted orders to attack after sustaining severe losses.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had hit a command centre of the Ukrainian Azov Regiment in southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.