MOSCOW: Russia’s Wagner mercenary group appeared on Sunday to ditch plans to withdraw from Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, saying they had been promised more arms by Moscow and suggesting they may keep up their assault on what Russia sees as a stepping stone to other cities in the Donbas region.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian and Russian media reported explosions across Russian-occupied Crimea, and Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences had detected and destroyed 22 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea overnight.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had said on Friday that his fighters, who have spearheaded a months-long assault on Bakhmut, would pull out after being starved of ammunition and suffering “useless and unjustified” losses as a result. But in an audio message posted on his Telegram channel on Sunday, he said: “We have been promised as much ammunition and weapons as we need to continue further operations. We have been promised that everything needed to prevent the enemy from cutting us off (from supplies) will be deployed.”

A spokesman for Russia’s defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment after Prigozhin’s latest statement. Russian officials have repeatedly sought to allay concerns that their forces on the front line have not received adequate supplies. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday, referring to the Russian army as a whole, that they had “received the sufficient amount of ammunition” to effectively inflict damage on enemy forces.

On the Ukrainian side, Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern command, said in response to Reuters questions about Prigozhin’s comments that Russian forces have “more than enough” ammunition.

He said Prigozhin’s comments are aimed at distracting from the heavy losses Wagner has taken by throwing so many troops into battle. “Four hundred eighty-nine artillery strikes over the past 24 hours in the area around Bakhmut – is that an ammunition hunger?”