JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s top mercenary leader turns on Kremlin. What’s behind rift?” – Christian Science Monitor
“Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has been engaged in very public criticism of Russia’s war effort. Experts say that it’s not a challenge to Vladimir Putin, but positioning for the post-war order.”
“Russia’s most successful military leader in the Ukraine war … is not [even] a soldier …. Yevgeny Prigozhin is a former convict and Kremlin-connected entrepreneur whose private … Wagner Group [army][] has borne the brunt of the long, grinding, and incredibly costly battle … [raging] since last summer amid the ruins of Bakhmut …. [Prigozhin] has publicly threatened to pull … out of Bakhmut … in a video with … dead Wagner troops he claimed were victims of Defense Ministry negligence. … [H]e accused Russian troops of ‘fleeing’ the battlefield near Bakhmut, leaving his men exposed[,] [saying,] ‘Soldiers should not die because of the absolute stupidity of their leadership’ …. This extraordinary spectacle has led to speculation about a rift in Moscow’s upper echelons of power, an imminent collapse of Russian lines around Bakhmut, or perhaps even a political challenge to the Kremlin by [] Prigozhin and … right-wing nationalist hawks who revere him.”
Major Russian pollsters and media have notably avoided conducting public surveys about the Wagner Group or Prigozhin. Yet informal polling by a Telegram channel called “Myusli Lavrov” resulted in 80% stating a preference for contracting with the Wagner Group rather than the regular Russian Army. Meanwhile, at least one official Russian military unit reportedly posted a video declaring a desire to transfer to the Wagner Group.
Click here for: “Russia’s top mercenary leader turns on Kremlin. What’s behind rift? Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has been engaged in very public criticism of Russia’s war effort. Experts say that it’s not a challenge to Vladimir Putin, but positioning for the post-war order.” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir