The head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, recorded a video response to the owner of PMC Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin. At the beginning of the appeal, he says that he is recording a video, as he was "taught by Zhenya Prigogine." Kadyrov said that units of the Chechen special forces of the Russian Guard "Akhmat" are ready to "take Bakhmut" instead of PMC Wagner. He allegedly wrote a letter addressed to Vladimir Putin, in which he announced his readiness to take the remaining territory of the city "with sheer pleasure."
Addressing Prigozhin, Kadyrov emphasizes that he is "offended that my brother behaves like this" and promises that "people will contact him and explain." At the same time, he calls the Wagner PMC mercenaries “very good, courageous, necessary” and offers Prigozhin cooperation:
“[Wagner PMCs] need people, including us, because they know the area. If you stay with us, I promise you that we will give more, create better conditions than you have today. We will try our best to make sure everything is top notch. You know [the Akhmat commander] Apty Alaudinov, he is now in place, [State Duma deputy] Adam Delimkhanov, you know our commanders. You can contact them – any group, the number does not matter. We will create the best conditions for you."
Kadyrov's video is a response to Prigozhin's video posted on May 5. In it, the recidivist criminal asked Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to transfer the positions of the Wagner PMC in Bakhmut to Akhmat. He also said that he was negotiating with the Kadyrovites themselves: “I am already contacting his [Kadyrov’s] representatives to begin the transfer of positions immediately so that on May 10 at 00:00, exactly at the moment when we have completely exhausted our combat potential, on Our comrades-in-arms stood up in our places and continued the assault on the settlement of Bakhmut.