Breaking this morning,
the leader of Russia's Wagner Group,
the mercenary
group, says he is pulling his troops out,
a mood
that is a key Ukrainian city
that we've been talking about.
They've been trying to capture it
for months and now has heavy casualties.
The leader of this group
is publicly blasting
Russian military leaders,
accusing them of not supplying his men
with ammunition.
He posted an angry video on social media
standing next to a pile
of what he says were dead mercenaries.
We were warning out
we have blurred this video,
but it is still very graphic.
Footage.
But there there was fighting.
You drew a cover.
These men here
who died today are Wagner PMC.
Their blood is still fresh.
We do major items to where
you think you are
the masters of this life.
Don't
you think you can dispose of their lives
if you think because you have warehouses
full of ammunition
that you have that right.
The man you see there is
Yevgeny Prigozhin.
He is also a powerful oligarch
known as Putin's chef
because he operates a catering business
and is very loyal to the Kremlin
or as one senior.
So he has been openly
recruiting mercenaries from prisons
including convicted murderers,
throwing them into the bloody fight
and by mood with little to
no military training.
Ukrainian forces say
it is essentially been a meat grinder
for these vulgar fighters
CNN's senior
international security correspondent
Nick Paton Walsh is live in Perugia
in eastern Ukraine.
Nick,
I wonder how significant
you see this video in this announcement
from Prigozhin
as given
you've been covering this for so long
Yeah. It is remarkable
to hear this kind of open statement
and it's staggering to
imagine that
by the middle of next week, a group
which has so publicly talked
about the vital nature
of the fight for back
from thousands of lives
of convicts, often
with very little training
or tactical awareness
into what you said is
the meat grinder
is now publicly telling
the Russian Ministry of Defense
and essentially Vladimir Putin
that they're out
by the middle of next week
just after the very important date
in the Russian calendar of Victory Day
on May the ninth.
They're saying this sort of
sticking around to be sure
that isn't, quote, spoiled.
That is an extraordinary challenge
to the Kremlin on the surface
and certainly suggests
that the rifts inside
the Russian military
is different
branches that seem to potentially
have been healed in recent weeks.
Well, they're way out in the open,
that video.
That is a man essentially
who's brought people to the front line
and thrown them towards
Ukrainian guns very callously,
suddenly claiming to have great emotion
for the bodies behind him.
But it is an absolutely
stark suggestion
as to the poor condition
of Russian forces
and the bickering internally
I have to hold out the possibility
that this might be some bid
to get the Ukrainians
to rush towards back
about seeing an opportunity.
But I have to say,
this is now
two days three days
of very embarrassing things
for Vladimir Putin.
We have the drones over the Kremlin.
Whatever happened there?
In reality,
it's certainly not a good look
to have to admit to two drones
flying over the heart of your government
and damaging the roof there
with an explosion.
And now we have a man who's probably
one of the most public figures
of the Russian military saying that
they're going to give up
this deeply symbolic
setting that they've thrown thousands.
Remember, recent
US assessments
suggested 10,000 people may have died
for Russia fighting for this city
since December alone.
And now here they are
saying all of that will come to nothing
unless they get military
shells that they believe
Russia is somehow
holding onto in its warehouses.
It may also be
they're running out of them.
Yeah, it's such a good point
you make about how Prigozhin is now
acting like he cares
about their lives,
about their well-being.
When we've seen how they've been treated.
And we should note,
of course,
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson,
not commenting,
not confirming this so far.
We'll see what they say this morning.
Nick Paton Walsh,
thank you for that report. In Ukraine.
Cities across Ukraine are bracing
for another day of missile
and drone strikes
from Russia
after that suspicious pre-dawn
attack on the Kremlin.
The sound of air raid sirens
and repeated
explosions sent people
running for shelter
in Kiev on Thursday evening.
And then there was this
frightening scene in the capital
that there was actually friendly fire.
A malfunctioning Ukrainian drone
shot down by keeps Air Force
no casualties. Or injuries reported.
Meanwhile, Moscow
now says that the US directed
the drone attack on the Kremlin
early Wednesday.
Russia called it
an assassination attempt
against President Vladimir Putin.
US National Security
Council spokesperson John Kirby dismissed
the claim as ridiculous and lies.