Wagner chief requests that Moscow give Chechen forces control of Bakhmut positions.

On Saturday, the leader of the Russian paramilitary organisation Wagner requested permission from Moscow to turn over to Ramzan Kadyrov his positions in the flashpoint city of Bakhmut.

Yevgeny Prigozhin wrote to Sergei Shoigu, the minister of defence, requesting that he issue a combat order by midnight on May 10 to transfer the locations of the Wagner paramilitary troops in Bakhmut and its surroundings to the units of the Akhmat battalion.

The Akhmat battalion refers to the Chechen combat forces commanded by strongman Kadyrov, who has ruled Russia's Chechnya, a region with a majority of Muslims, for the past fifteen years.

Due to a protracted "ammunition famine," Mr. Prigozhin claimed that his forces would be compelled to leave the battle.

Since October 2022, he claimed, the Russian Defense Ministry had only provided 32% of the necessary ammunition.

Wagner fighters are in charge of the Bakhmut combat, which has exposed tensions between Prigozhin and the conventional army.

In a string of harsh recordings slamming Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov on Friday, the Wagner chief vowed to quit.

Kadyrov declared that his soldiers were "ready to advance and occupy the city" on Telegram on Friday.

The "most difficult" engagements at Popasna, Severodonetsk, and Lysychansk were fought side by side by the Wagner units, he commended them, and he noted this.

In a message sent earlier on Saturday, Prigozhin praised Kadyrov for the offer and asserted that Bakhmut would "without a doubt" be taken by Chechen forces.