Wagner mercenary chief warns the entire Russian frontline is at risk of COLLAPSING if his troops fail to take Bakhmut and are forced to retreat

Daily Mail ^ | 3/6/2023 | David Averre

[marcusmaximus]

The founder of Russia's Wagner group of mercenaries has warned the entire frontline will collapse if his troops in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut do not receive more ammunition.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose organisation has played a significant part in Russian military successes in recent months, said his ammo-starved forces were the 'cement' holding the frontline together and the last line of defence to win the war.

'Today, Wagner is the cement that, as I've said previously, is holding the Ukrainian army in place – grinding it down, destroying it and preventing it from deploying to other regions and occupying other fronts.

'We're also moving forward and the [Russian] army is forced to follow behind us to save face and prop up their reputation... If the Wagner group pulls back, then the following situation will unfold.

'It is clear that the front will crumble, the front will crumble for the Russian borders, perhaps it crumbles even further.'

Prigozhin made the remarks in a four-minute-long video published over the weekend by a Wagner-linked Telegram channel.

But yesterday he complained that most of the ammunition that his forces were promised by Moscow last month had not yet been shipped.

'For now, we are trying to figure out the reason: is it just ordinary bureaucracy or a betrayal?' Prigozhin asked on his usual press service Telegram channel.

[Vermont Lt]

“The historical example here is, the Russian army which could barely defeat the Finns in 1939 was somehow able to (barely) withstand the German onslaught in in 1941, before becoming a world war winning force in, circa, 1943.”

---

I think its important to keep in consideration that the victory on the Eastern Front in WWII was a combination of lots and lots of Russian soldiers and lots and lots of American and British aid.

To make an “apples to apples” comparison you need to fill in the second part of the equation: What “white knight” is going to come to the aid of the Russian Army? China, North Korea, and Iran? That might work somewhat (and the Ukraine war IS smaller..so it might work.).

In WWII there were few embargoes on goods going into the Soviet Union. There are still trickles of goods coming in through back channels, but in the amounts to take on a NATO supplied Ukraine.

What I don’t understand is why the Russians haven’t gone full “Red Army” on Ukraine.

99% of what he read and hear is propaganda from one side or the other. If you pick out the 1% truth on both sides there are more questions about the Russian failure to really advance than there are about Ukrainians fighting to defend their homeland.

Time will tell.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

It has come to our attention that many 
Zeepers are suffering severe dehydration due to all the 
continual pissing and moaning they've experienced lately. 

These are difficult days, trying to keep the official narrative
going forward, despite the facts. And often, the daily supply
of Daily Mail intelligence service propaganda we provide 
for distribution is not enough to keep your spirits up. 

We understand!
 
Please make an effort to keep yourself hydrated by drinking half 
your body weight in ounces of water daily and consider an 
electrolyte drink each day. 

Mr. Soros and Mr. Klaus are counting on you to push 
forward the message of the Great Reset!

[PIF]

https://ground.news/

[PIF]

China’s CCP is always reliable source of Ukraine war news ...

[redfreedom]

I would say your comment about there being no western reporters at the war front says volumes as to how the war is going.

If the following were fact:
Russian tanks abandoned or blown up by the thousands
Russians using antique weapons that simply do not work
Dead Russians piled up like cord wood
Russian soldiers raping anything with two and sometimes four legs
Hordes of glorious brave Ukrainian soldiers chasing off Russia’s chicken convict soldiers
(the list goes on, but you got the drift)

If any of the above were fact, western reporters from all nations would have video and audio evidence of such.

Instead we have to put up with whatever the propaganda ministers feed us, which ranges from half truths to outright lies.

[hcmama]

They are not objective by any means, but the BBC has been pretty fact-based in its coverage.

The British press in general would embarrass William Randolph Hearst for sheer war boosterism though

[Cronos]

hi BroJoeK - just to your points

1. “Russians are not stupid” — no, they “in general” aren’t. But you need to remember that Putin has ruled over them for 22 years crushing any dissent. The smart Russians have left or are languishing in gulags.

The fact is that we’ve seen the Russian military over the past year NOT learn from their mistakes. It is incredible to watch, but they just aren’t changing their losing tactics and have no strategy

2. “Russia is huge... if they put their minds, they will build...” — it is not that simple. Even if they have all of the materials, it is impossible to build without the smart people — see #1 above — you can’t reverse engineer a jet fighter if you look at the composite materials, it is impossible to recreate by just looking at it, even if they do know what were the conditions, it is near impossible

3. “forced Russia to realign towards the east” - this is not that easy if you consider that 90% of Russia’s population is in Europe, not Asia. They have sold materials at a discount to Asian countries, but they don’t have the pipelines to do it continuously.

Vlad is not profiting considering that they are selling at 40% + discounts to India and China.

4. “Russia has held in strategic reserve..” — no, it has not. It sent in its elite units at the start of the war, then they were crushed and the Russians tried partial mobilization, which failed. Then they recruited criminals.

Russia does not have a reserve, this is visible in the way they are unable to make any movements and at the same time they are unable to even protect their homelands (see that the Duma has told businesses that they have to protect themselves from drones)

5. “Ukraine is Russia’s trial by fire” — that would be only if Russia learnt from its errors. It has not

6. “Russia... Finns... World Winning force” — actually this was due to Nazi Germany over-extending itself AND the American lend-lease.

[PIF]

4. My understanding (I could be wrong) is that Russia has held in strategic reserve two thirds of its military, including its best units.
These are to protect the 12,000+ miles of Russian borders that are not with Ukraine.

—
You are. NG troops answer directly to Putin, and are not RGF, they are poorly trained for any military action and are only fit to sit in guard shacks and eat snacks, rousing themselves to chase the occasional smuggler.

All his best troops were committed early on and then wiped out. All that remains in the Far East are NG border guards, not RGF forces.

90% of all RGF forces are in Ukraine - the other 10% are rotated out.

==
5...... even if they lose Ukraine, the Russian military will come out of it much stronger and better prepared for their next invasion.

—
The idea is that there will be no next time.

[Cronos]

This is Russia's population density map - as you can see, it is purely Europe based

Then if you look at the pipelines, it is relatively short distances to Europe, but look at the unfinished pipelines to China

[PIF]

What I don’t understand is why the Russians haven’t gone full “Red Army” on Ukraine.

—
Well they did and go wiped out - The RGF is a far cry from the Soviet Army. No Divisions of 100,000 troops, no 10s of thousands tanks to use - only limited operational armored vehicles, with most being stored in the Far Est in open air and no maintenance for decades. Worse, they closed one of the 2 tank factories.

There is no military to go full “Red Army”.

The RGF as of Feb 2022 had only 270,000-290,000 professional troops; the Naval Infantry had only another 20,000.

That left only the poorly trained NG. And conscripts. Now Mobnicks with no training, no equipment, rusty WWII rifles, limited ammo, often no officers, no food, no water, no PPE and poor winter clothing.

Capish?

[tlozo]

My understanding (I could be wrong) is that Russia has held in strategic reserve two thirds of its military, including its best units.

Estimates I have seen is that +90% of Russian combat forces are in Ukraine.

the Russian military will come out of it much stronger and better prepared for their next invasion.

Corruption and low morale are the two problems endemic to the Russian military. How will they be overcome?

Russia Has Deployed 97% of Army in Ukraine but Is Struggling to Advance, U.K. Says

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-has-deployed-97-of-army-in-ukraine-but-is-struggling-to-advance-u-k-says-91086284

[Salvavida]

Probably the most intelligent question ever asked on this subject on FR. But here in FR land, we prefer to attack each other. This conflict has more disinformation than any other subject in recent memory— up there with COVID-19. And why not? There are two competing ideas on how the world should be ordered: Globalism and national populism. Oil and water.

That is what’s at stake.

[Jimmy Valentine]

A big part of the ammunition issue is that the Russian infantry has very poor firing discipline. “Spray and pray” burns a lot of ammo with marginal returns. Also burning out your barrel by continuous fire is not helpful.

[Mr. K]

It did not take you long to chime in, Biden-lover.

[Chode]

[Mr. K]

"More and more Americans are beginning to see Vladimir Putin as the hero and the president they would like to see in their country"

No, they are not. We just don't see a reason for the USA to get involved in a territorial dispute.

No matter how much Joe Biden, George Soros, and the US Media want us to.

Being against Biden, Soros, does not mean you are FOR Putin.

[elpadre]

It is common in warfare to pull a unit (division) off the front line periodically and replace it with a unit sitting in reserve. I recall from when in Korea, our division would be taken off the line and the division in reserve would take over our sector. That was true for all branches except the artillery. Our mission would change from direct support of our division to general support of the incoming one.

[Kazan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVzFxqLZivE&t=1s

Update on Russian military operations in Ukraine for March 6, 2023: - Russian forces continue the encirclement of Bakhmut;

- Western media admits Russian operations around Bakhmut is exhausting Ukrainian forces and may diminish them ahead of an anticipated Ukrainian spring offensive;

- US announces another military assistance package for Ukraine with fewer items listed and absent of any specific quantities despite previous packages featuring such information;

- Ukraine has urgently asked the West for more artillery shells in particular, highlighting the inability for Western industry to match or exceed Russian military industrial output;

- German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall claims to be considering building a tank factory in Ukraine. Older articles claim only if approved by the German government and after the conflict is over, newer articles suggest the factory may be built sooner;

- Ukrainian pilots are in the US to assess their skills for potential training on US warplanes (likely the F-16);

- Training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s or other Western warplanes will admittedly take years, if F-16s arrive in Ukraine beforehand they will likely be Western operators posing as Ukrainian pilots;

[elpadre]

“... Russian infantry has very poor firing discipline. “Spray and pray” burns a lot of ammo ...”

US infantry may be better disciplined today, but in WWII and Korea we went through a lot of ammo. A GI in a foxhole may look cool and relaxed, but he isn’t. The adrenaline is flowing and if he sees or hears a rustle in a bush ahead there will be half dozen emptying their ammo clip into the bush.

Of course, we weren’t professionals then but citizen-soldiers - draftees.

[marcusmaximus]

What Kadyov kidneys doing, comrade?