Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has accused Russian military chiefs of lying to President Vladimir Putin about the scale of Russian losses.

In a series of emotional audio messages over two days, Prigozhin escalated his repeated criticism of Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

“Total trash is being put on the president’s desk. Shoigu and Gerasimov have a simple approach: The lie must be monstrous for people to believe it. That is what they are doing,” Prigozhin said in one message.

“It’s all being hidden from everyone. Russia will wake up one day and learn that [Russian-annexed] Crimea has been handed over to the Ukrainians.

“They are misleading the Russian people, and if it keeps on like this, we’ll be left without the most important thing: Russia,” he added.