Wagner mercenary chief sends a truckload of seized champagne to Ukrainian women as a mocking ‘gift’
- Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin signed cases of wine from besieged Bakhmut
- READ MORE: Wagner chief warns entire Russian frontline at risk of COLLAPSING
In a gesture designed to taunt Ukrainian troops and civilians, Russia’s Wagner group of mercenaries has shared footage of its founder sending a ‘truckload’ of champagne from the besieged city of Bakhmut as a ‘gift’ to the women of Ukraine.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the boss of the notorious fighting group who has strong links to the Kremlin, is filmed signing a case of the sparkling wine with a red marker.
It is then loaded into a lorry by masked troops along with dozens of other cases of wine, with its true destination unknown.
The post, shared on a Wagner affiliated Telegram channel, boasts that as Bakhmut is on the brink of being seized by Russian forces, Ukrainian hopes of retaking the area and wine factory are increasingly remote.
Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, the sneering caption further ridicules Ukrainian forces, saying that the ‘goodwill gesture’ will mean women in the country are not ‘without a gift for the holiday’.
The footage shows Prigozhin scrawling a mocking message of ‘To Ukrainian women, from Private Military Company Wagner’.
The cases are then packed into a truck, which Russian soldiers in camos spray paint with another cruel message of ‘Happy 8th March!’ – referencing International Women’s Day on Wednesday.
The post read: ‘Yevgeny Prigozhin sent a truckload of champagne from a sparkling wine factory located near Bakhmut for Ukrainian women on March 8.
‘Earlier, Ukrainian servicemen have repeatedly said that after they squeeze out the Wagner Group from Bakhmut, they will drink champagne from a local factory for a victory.
‘But something went wrong, the Orchestra is moving forward, and the ArtWinery plant is getting farther and farther from the Ukrainian military, so Yevgeny Prigozhin made a goodwill gesture and did not leave Ukrainian women without a gift for the holiday.’
The Artwinery company, which the cases bear the branding of, produces wine using the Champenoise method, ageing it in caves near the embattled city and traces its origins back to the 1950s.
The company saw its production of 19million bottles of wine depleted by millions after fighting flared up in the east of the country in 2014, its manager told the Guardian in 2017.
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rages on, the region has become a focal point for Putin’s forces as they attempt to hold their line and take the city.
The footage shows Prigozhin scrawling a mocking message of ‘To Ukrainian women from Private Military Company Wagner’
‘Happy 8th March’ (International Women’s Day), read the spray painted message on the side of a truck
‘But something went wrong, the Orchestra is moving forward, and the ArtWinery plant is getting farther and farther from the Ukrainian military,’ the caption of the post read
Masked Wagner troops were seen in the back of a lorry which they filled with the wine cases
Shocking pictures reveal how Ukrainian city which once housed 10,000 people has been reduced to a dystopian wasteland by Vladimir Putin’s Russian forces – CLICK HERE for more
Fighting around Bakhmut has intensified in the past week, and last week Prigozhin claimed his units had ‘practically surrounded Bakhmut’.
The Russian millionaire said the city is now almost completely surrounded, with only one road still open for Ukraine’s troops, Reuters reported.
The city has been reduced to ruins during Russia’s seven month onslaught, but Ukrainian forces remain defiant as they repaired roads and dug new trenches for defensive positions over the weekend.
Russian troops, including the Wagner group, continue to face serious pressures as they hold the frontline.
Taking to Telegram, Prigozhin warned that the entire frontline will collapse if his troops in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut do not receive more ammunition.
In the four minute video, he said his ammo-starved forces were the ‘cement’ holding the frontline together and the last line of defence to win the war.
‘Today, Wagner is the cement that, as I’ve said previously, is holding the Ukrainian army in place – grinding it down, destroying it and preventing it from deploying to other regions and occupying other fronts.
The fighting around Bakhmut has seen First world War-style trench warfare unfold as both sides batter one another with artillery while sheltering in ditches
A Ukrainian soldier sits in a trench near Russian positions near Bakhmut yesterday
Ukrainian soldiers fire a self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, yesterday
‘We’re also moving forward and the [Russian] army is forced to follow behind us to save face and prop up their reputation… If the Wagner group pulls back, then the following situation will unfold.
‘It is clear that the front will crumble, the front will crumble for the Russian borders, perhaps it crumbles even further.’
He complained that most of the ammunition that his forces were promised by Moscow last month had not yet been shipped.
‘For now, we are trying to figure out the reason: is it just ordinary bureaucracy or a betrayal?’ Prigozhin asked on his usual press service Telegram channel.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence revealed in its latest update on the situation in Ukraine that Putin’s troops have been forced to use shovels during hand-to-hand combat due to a shortage of ammunition.
Russian mobilised reservists have said they were ordered to assault a Ukrainian concrete strong point armed with only ‘firearms and shovels’.
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