Download "Wagner Chief calls Russian Military leaders 'clowns' as fighters 'pulled from Bakhmut' to Donetsk"

Wagner PMC personnel will complete their pullout from Bakhmut by June 5, Russia's most powerful mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin told a group of Russian military correspondents on Thursday (June 1). On a video released by his press service, Prigozhin wearing military fatigues is seen shaking hands and speaking to a group of his men, telling them "We should not be in Bakhmut any longer." In a separate video also released by the Wagner press service, Prigozhin is seen speaking to a group of Russian reporters saying his Wagner group would fight on in Ukraine if his men got a separate section of the front without having to depend on "clowns" who ran swathes of the Russian armed forces. Celebrating his 62nd birthday on Thursday at a training camp, Prigozhin again confirmed that his men would finally leave the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on June 5 after handing it to the Russian army. The Wagner mercenaries captured the devastated city in late May after months of grinding warfare. "If the whole chain (of command) is 100% failed and will only be led by clowns who turn people into meat, then we will not participate in it," said Prigozhin, known for his blunt, often expletive-laced commentary on the conduct of the war. "Beautiful isn't it?" he said to Russian reporters with a smile, gazing at a night sky lit up with blasts and red flares against bursts of automatic gunfire from his mercenaries. Prigozhin said his men wanted to rest at camps in Russian-controlled Ukraine for around a month and then things would become clearer. The restaurateur-turned-mercenary has gained widespread notoriety during the 15-month war in Ukraine, and has regularly insulted President Vladimi The Sun newspaper brings you the latest breaking news videos and explainers from the UK and around the world Become a Sun Subscriber and hit the bell to be the first to know Read The Sun: https://www.thesun.co.uk/ Like The Sun on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser Follow The Sun on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSun Subscribe to The Sun on Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/discover/The_Sun/1633225139