Russian Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin took a new level of fierce confrontation with the military’s top brass today, posting sickening photos of the corpses of dozens of his fighters who he said were killed because they lacked ammunition.

Prigozhin, founder of the private military company Wagner that is fighting on Moscow’s behalf in Ukraine, repeatedly accused the Russian Defense Ministry this week of deliberately depriving its fighters of ammunition in what he called a treacherous attempt to destroy Wagner.

The Ministry of Defense, in a statement issued late last night, said the allegations were “completely untrue” and complained – without naming Prigozhin – of efforts to create divisions that worked “exclusively for the benefit of the enemy”.

Undeterred, Prigozhin stepped up his claims today, taking the unusual step of releasing a photo of dozens of his dead fighters lying on the frozen ground in eastern Ukraine, where Wagner is fighting to take the small Ukrainian town of Bakhmut .

“This is one of the places where the bodies of those who have died have been gatheredPrigozhin said in an interview with a prominent Russian military blogger.

“These are young men who died yesterday because of the so-called shell famine. Mothers, wives and children will take their dead bodies. The dead should be five times less. Who is responsible that they died? Those responsible are those who should have solved the issue that we would have enough ammunition. The final signature had to be given by either (Chief of the General Staff) Gerasimov, or (Defence Minister) Shoigu. None of them want to make the decisionPrigozhin said.