"Putin's cook" worries Moscow - Russia's military now apparently wants to slow him down

Created: 11/27/2022, 11:35 am

By: Franziska Schwarz

Photo from November 2: The headquarters of the paramilitary “Wagner” group in St. Petersburg © Alexander Galperin/Imago

The influence of Yevgeny Prigozhin, inventor of the "Wagner" mercenaries, seems to be a concern for the Kremlin.

News ticker on the military situation in the Ukraine war.

• "Putin's cook"

  worries

  Moscow

  : Russia's military is said to be planning more paramilitaries

• "Wagner" mercenaries

  in the

  Ukraine war

  : Secret service reports on Russian counter-offensive

• Yanukovych friend

  as a counter for

  Prigozhin

  ?

  "Private military company" planned

• This 

  news ticker on the military situation in the Ukraine war

   is constantly updated.

Kyiv/Washington – Yevgeny Prigozhin not only keeps the EU Parliament busy, but also the Kremlin.

The Russian oligarch, who is also known as "Putin's cook" because of his interim supply to the Kremlin kitchens, announced in September that he had founded the paramilitary "Wagner Group".

"Putin's cook" worries Moscow: Russia's military is said to be planning more paramilitaries

"Wagner" mercenaries have been deployed in many conflict regions for years, especially in Syria and African countries.

The group operated in secret for a long time.

In October, it opened an official headquarters in St. Petersburg.

Critics describe the group as Russian President Vladimir Putin's "shadow army" for foreign operations - the Kremlin denies any links.

"Wagner" mercenaries in the Ukraine war: Secret service reports on Russian counter-offensive

Russia's military now wants to counter Prigozhin's troops with additional paramilitaries.

The aim is to weaken Prigozhin's influence.

This is how the US Institute for War Studies (ISW) assessed it in its war situation analysis on Sunday (November 27).

The Russian military intelligence service GRU reported the day before that Armen Sarkissyan was appointed as the new administrator of prisons in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

Yanukovych friend as a counter to Prigozhin?

"Private military company" planned

The Russian-Armenian businessman Sarkissyan is considered to be close to the Kremlin and wants to use his new post to set up a "private military company," it said.

He is also said to have ties to Viktor Yanukovych, the former pro-Russian President of Ukraine.

Yanukovych once ruled in an authoritarian manner.