The head of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, answered the question of who he called the “happy grandfather” who “may turn out to be an asshole” in a video that was published on May 9. The question was asked by the Russian propaganda channel RTVI.
Prigozhin offered a choice of three options for who can be considered a "grandfather-asshole":
- The former Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, "who was fired for giving us shells, and now he cannot give us shells."
- Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Army, "who should give us shells, but we do not receive enough shells, and we receive only 10%."
- Former participant of the show "Dom 2" Natalya Khim, "who appeared on social networks offering us boxes of shells."
In addition, the head of the Wagner PMC said that his mercenaries were still not supplied "in sufficient quantities", although "the country's leadership issued a command to consider all applications [from the Wagner PMC]." Prigozhin also complained about the "information campaigns" allegedly being waged against him, and also notified that Natalya Khim had brought several boxes of shells to the front.
Earlier, the head of the PMC Wagner refused to answer a similar question from Meduza, citing the fact that he did not want to comment on the “enemy publication”. At the same time, he expressed his readiness to answer it to "an unbiased Russian publication."
On May 9, an almost 30-minute video appeared on the Telegram channel of Prigozhin’s press service, in which the head of Wagner PMC complained about the lack of ammunition, the cowardice of the Russian regular army, and that “Ukrainians will come to Rostov” if “the front crumbles.” In it, he spoke about the "happy grandfather" who "thinks he is fine." “And […] how to win the war, if by chance, I just guess, it turns out that this grandfather is a complete asshole?” asked Prigogine.
Earlier in May, Prigozhin first complained about the lack of ammunition and said that the Wagner PMC would leave Bakhmut, and then asked Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to transfer the Wagner PMC positions in Bakhmut to the Chechen Akhmat. However, later the founder of the PMC said that the Ministry of Defense promised to give the Wagnerites the necessary ammunition to continue further hostilities, so the mercenaries remain in the Bakhmut area.