The mercenary forces used by Vladimir Putin to do his dirty work have finally had enough: Politico reports leaders of the Wagner Group said they would withdraw their forces from the battle for Bakhmut in Ukraine by May 10th. Saying the Kremlin wasn’t providing sufficient support, Wagner leaders claimed Russian commanders were intentionally causing mass casualties for the independent unit because they were jealous of the unit’s success.
This could be a ploy for Wagner’s commanders to get more of whatever they want from Putin–money, weapons, power–by leveraging his dependence on them to their advantage. Or it could be the latest sign that the invasion of Ukraine is not going in Russia’s favor, as US analysts say Russian forces have suffered 100,000 casualties since the beginning of the year.