The head of the Wagner group comes out with a strong warning to the Kremlin: Let's get serious about the war or you will face...

During a video message on his Telegram channel, Yevgeny Prigozhin said that Ukraine will try to surround Bakhmut and attack Crimea.

"Most likely, this scenario will not be good for Russia, so we have to prepare for a tough fight. We are in such a state that we can lose Russia, this is the main problem... We must establish martial law," Prigozhin said, adding that his political outlook was dominated by love for the country and service to Vladimir Putin.

Russia's elite, he said, protected their children from the war, while the children of ordinary Russians are losing their lives at the front, a situation that could cause unrest in Russia. If ordinary Russians continued to receive their children in zinc coffins, while the children of the elite felt alienated, Russia would face upheavals similar to those of 1917, which led to civil war.

Ukraine is preparing a counter-offensive aimed at pushing Russian troops back to the borders before 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, Prigozhin said.

The Wagner Group has been heavily involved in the fighting in Bakhmut. He previously threatened to withdraw his forces from the city and accused Russia's military command of crippling the group's munitions.