Wagner’s mercenary forces have yet to receive the ammunition promised by Moscow, the head of the group said today, after earlier saying early indications were that they had begun to receive them.

However, Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose forces have been trying for months to take the town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, added that he did not want to “spoil” Russia’s big Victory Day parade scheduled to take place at 10:00 Greek time and that he will clarify further after it.

“The people who were supposed to fulfill the (shipping) orders did not fulfill them yesterday“, Prigozhin states in a video he posted on the messaging app Telegram.

Late on Monday, he said early indications were that his forces had begun receiving the munitions, although he noted they had not yet “actually seen” them.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will deliver a speech at the military parade in Red Square, one of the most important public events in Russia, marking the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.

On Sunday, Ukraine’s military vowed to prevent a final push by Moscow to capture the devastated city of Bakhmut, depriving Putin of his only potential achievement from the winter offensive in time for today’s holiday.