The video with Kadyrov's words was released on Sunday, May 7, 2023, by Russian journalist Ilya Shepelin.
Ramzan Kadyrov emphasized the inadmissibility of Wagner mercenaries leaving Bakhmut at midnight on May 10, as Prigozhin had previously threatened, citing the alleged "shell deprecation."
"Zhenya (informal form of Yevgeny), I mean, until we get to the positions, until I give out all the positions, you will be on the defense. And when we start attacking, only then will we determine where you should go next. We must completely change the course of the situation. You've always told me that you live by men's rules. So I'm telling you in terms of concepts: you have to do this, that and the other. People will contact you and explain everything to you," Kadyrov said.
The Russian head of Chechnya also said that Prigozhin had left the most difficult areas of the frontline for his fighters.
"He took a good place, convenient for him. Other places... are difficult, we have to leave. This is the last battle," Ramzan Kadyrov said.
At the same time, he disagreed with Prigozhin's statement that the Ukrainian city of Popasna, Luhansk region, was captured by Wagner mercenaries.
"You said that you took Popasna. I am officially telling you: we all participated in Popasna. We were all there and our units took Popasna. And other places that were bad for you... you needed a brotherly shoulder, you turned to your Chechen brothers," Kadyrov said.
"I'm sorry that my brother (Prigozhin - ed.) behaves like this," Kadyrov complained.
At the end of the video, he once again urged the Wagner leader not to flee from his positions in Bakhmut, as Wagner members are "very necessary, needed people", in particular because they "know the area.”
"If you stay with us, I promise that we will give you more, create better conditions than you have today, and try to make sure that everything is at the highest (level - ed.)," Ramzan Kadyrov concluded.
After talking to Kadyrov, the leader of Wagner PMC informed about new assurances received from the Russian Ministry of Defense about what Wagner men in Bakhmut need now.
"They promise to give us as much ammunition and weapons as we need to continue our actions. They swear that everything will be set up on the flank, which is necessary to prevent us from being cut off by the enemy. We are told that we can act in Artemovsk (Russia’s name for Bakhmut) as we see fit. And we are given Surovikin (Sergei Surovikin - ed.) as the person who will make all decisions within the framework of Wagner PMC's combat operations in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense. And this is the only person with the star of an army general who knows how to fight," Prigozhin said.
A video with this latest comment by Yevgeny Prigozhin was posted on the Telegram channel of his press service.
According to military experts, Prigozhin is going to leave Bakhmut because he does not want to be defeated by the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the counteroffensive announced for May.
At the same time, both Prigozhin and Kadyrov always blame the Russian Defense Ministry (headed by Sergei Shoigu) and Russia’s general staff (headed by Valery Gerasimov) for their failures at the front line.