Wagner chief said his troops are no longer withdrawing from Bakhmut after being promised as many artillery shells as they need

• The leader of the Wagner fighters said they would not retreat from Bakhmut after being promised ammo.
• On Sunday, Yevgeny Prigozhin said he would get "as much ammunition and weapons as we need."

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group, said that his troops are no longer planning to withdraw from Bakhmut after Moscow agreed to send as much ammunition as needed.

Prigozhin had issued an expletive-ridden message to Russia's military leaders, blaming them for deliberately depriving his mercenary fighters of ammunition and threatening to withdraw on May 10.

He has for several months complained publicly of "shell hunger," which he said was causing the group to suffer heavy losses.

Wagner Group fighters have played a key role in bloody fighting in the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine for months.

But in an audio message posted on Telegram on Sunday, Prigozhin said he had been promised the crucial supplies.

"Overnight, we received a combat order for the first time in all this time," he said, according to a translation by the Associated Press.

"We have been promised as much ammunition and weapons as we need to continue further operations. We have been promised that everything needed," he added.

Prigozhin also said that Russia's defense ministry had assigned General Sergei Surovikin to work with Wagner, who oversaw the Ukraine war for several months before General Valery Gerasimov took over the role.

"This is the only man with the star of an army general who knows how to fight," he said.

The outspoken Prigozhin and Russia's military leaders have been feuding for months. The Wagner chief often publicly criticizes them for not supporting his fighters and arguing over who can take credit for Russian victories in the war.

Recent leaked Pentagon documents shared by National Guard airman Jack Teixeira revealed analysis suggesting Russia's military leadership has struggled to deal with Prigozhin. It has previously appealed to President Vladimir Putin to intervene, per the Washington Post.

The Wagner Group had become a major power player in the war, scoring some publicized wins in Ukraine when Russia's invasion was floundering.