Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s private army Wagner, accused Moscow’s military leadership of lying and concealing facts about the war front in Ukraine on Thursday.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov were dishing out “bullshit” to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the hope that the “lies” would only have to be terrible enough for the president to believe them, Prigozhin said in a voice message posted on Telegram.

Ukrainian forces have already had significant successes, he said.

“These are large areas that we have lost,” Mr Prigozhin said. “The losses in the Russian ranks were also great, and colossal problems are being concealed.”

On the other hand, the Wagner chief criticised Moscow’s military leadership was reporting mass casualties and destroying technology on the Ukrainian side without providing any evidence.

Mr Prigozhin has repeatedly accused Shoigu and Gerasimov of incompetence.

Once again, he called for an urgent mobilisation to prevent Russia’s defeat in the war.

In contrast, at a meeting with Putin, Shoigu again reported losses on the Ukrainian side, including numerous tanks.

The pace of Kyiv’s counter-offensive has now slowed after 16 days of active action due to losses, Shoigu said, according to the Interfax agency.

Nevertheless, the armed forces still had great potential.

Kyiv had also admitted that the offensive was progressing more slowly than hoped.

Mr Shoigu claimed that the enemy was currently regrouping in preparation for new attacks.

When asked by Mr Putin about possible risks to the Russian armed forces from Western deliveries of heavy weapons to Kyiv, Mr Shoigu said, “We do not see any threats here, partly because we are in the process of forming reserves.”

He said a “reserve army” of more than 3,000 units of combat equipment would be formed by the end of June but did not give details.

At the same time, Shoigu said that there was currently no need for a forced deployment to the front of volunteers who are currently training for deployment. 

(dpa/NAN)