Wagner denounces an attack by the Russian military on Bakhmut: “They shot at us. The order came from their drunk commander”

The latest clash between the paramilitaries of the Wagner and the regular army of Mosca ended up with one shooting. According to the complaint of the head of the private militia and a man considered very close to Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhinlast May 17 a senior army officer “drunk” he had his militiamen open fire directly. The news was reported on the Telegram channel of Prigozhin’s press service.

The accusation of the contractors is only the latest launched by their leader in recent weeks against the leaders of the Defense in Moscow. First came the statements according to which the ministry was not providing the ammunition and field support requested by Wagner, then the complaint that the Russian regular military have placed mines on the way to withdrawal and Bakhmut. Today finally came the statement that a senior army officer had opened fire directly on the militiamen of the private company. Wagner said she captured some Russian army soldiers who opened fire on the contractors on orders from their commander, who was “drunk” at the time. The incident occurred at Semi-gorye, near Bakhmut. The militiamen under Prigozhin’s orders thus returned fire. The Russian officer responsible for everything has been identified as the lieutenant colonel Roman Venevitin, head of the 72nd Motorized Rifle Brigade. In a video, the officer, captured by the paramilitaries, confesses that he had opened fire on the Wagner men due to a “personal dislike” and adds that he acted under the influence of alcohol.

The Russian Telegram channel Siren says he has tracked down in the archives a soldier who responds precisely to the name of Roman Venevitin. Before joining the military, the 45-year-old worked in a private security agency in Nizhny Novgorod and ten years ago it had been to him license withdrawn per drunk driving. On May 20, Prigozhin said that the whole of Bakhmut had been conquered by his men after a bloody battle that lasted almost seven months, and on the 25th he announced the start of the retreat to hand over the city to the Moscow army. But on Friday he accused “defense ministry representatives” of having planted mines along the roads that the Wagner militiamen had to travel to retreat. “When we asked them why they did it, they pointed their fingers up,” Prigozhin added.