The leader of Russia's Wagner mercenary group says he will withdraw his troops from the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on 10 May because of ammunition shortages.
Yevgeny Prigozhin's statement came after he posted a video of him walking among his dead fighters' bodies, blaming top Russian defence officials.
"Tens of thousands" had been killed and injured there, Prigozhin said.
Russia has been trying to capture the eastern city for months, despite its questionable strategic value.
Wagner troops have been heavily involved.
Earlier this week, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby - citing newly declassified intelligence - said that more than 20,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and another 80,000 wounded in fighting in Ukraine since December. Half of the dead were from the Wagner group.
In his statement on Friday, Prigozhin, 61, pinned his decision to withdraw from Bakhmut squarely on the defence ministry, using expletives.
"Shoigu! Gerasimov! Where is the... ammunition?... They came here as volunteers and die for you to fatten yourselves in your mahogany offices."
John Burns
I have all the sources. They can't stop the signal.
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