The head of the Russian mercenary Wagner group asked Moscow to allow him to hand over his positions in Bakhmut to Ramzan Kadyrov's Chechen forces.

"I ask you to issue a combat order before 00:00 on May 10 concerning the transfer of the positions of the Wagner paramilitary units in Bakhmut and its periphery to the units of the Akhmat battalion," Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a letter to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The Akhmat battalion refers to the Chechen combat units under the command of strongman Kadyrov, who has ruled Russia's Muslim-majority republic of Chechnya for the last decade and a half.

Prigozhin said his fighters would be forced to pull out because of a long "ammunition famine."

He accused the Russian defense ministry of only delivering 32% of the required ammunition since October 2022.

Wagner fighters are leading the battle for Bakhmut, during which rivalries between Prigozhin and the conventional army have come to the surface.

On Friday, the Wagner leader threatened to pull out in scathing videos attacking Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

Kadyrov on Friday said on Telegram that his fighters were "ready to advance and occupy the city."

He praised Wagner units, saying both groups had fought side by side in the "most difficult" battles of Popasna, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.

In a message earlier on Saturday, Prigozhin thanked Kadyrov for his offer and said Chechen forces would "no doubt" seize Bakhmut.