Russia's Wagner mercenary group will exit eastern Ukraine's Bakhmut next week after suffering losses due to critical ammunition shortages, the private military contractor's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin announced Friday.

Wagner fighters, many of whom are convicts recruited from Russian prisons, have been at the forefront of Russia's efforts to capture Bakhmut, taking heavy losses in a brutal, monthslong battle. Tensions between Wagner and Russia's Defense Ministry have simmered during this time, with Prigozhin accusing the Russian army of taking credit for victories won by Wagner fighters and of slowing down Wagner units' advances in Ukraine.

"My soldiers will not suffer senseless and unjustified losses in Bakhmut without ammunition," Prigozhin said in a video address published by his press service in which he is flanked by masked Wagner soldiers.