Losses in the Ukraine war: Wagner boss Prigozhin is finding it increasingly difficult to recruit mercenaries – also because advertising is letting him down.
Putin's work?
Moscow – High losses and hardly any new applications: The Wagner group is apparently finding it increasingly difficult to recruit new mercenaries for the Ukraine war.
The Kremlin has already stopped recruiting prisoners.
Now it seems that Yevgeny Prigozhin's private army is finding it difficult to compete for new forces on the free market.
Because the Russian advertising companies are apparently letting the troops down.
War in Ukraine: Head of Wagner Group complains about problems recruiting new mercenaries
Prigozhin has now loudly complained about a lack of support from Moscow's elite and business community.
Above all, the Russian advertising agencies would let the Wagner group down, the founder of the mercenary army complained on his Telegram channel, as
reported
by br24.de.
"Many Moscow agencies turned up their coke noses and refused to cooperate," wrote the Wagner boss and published a list of ten major advertising companies in the country, including Gazprom Media.
Although he had offered a lot of money, there were "great difficulties".
It cannot be ruled out that his troops will dry up in the long run.
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Complains about lack of help in recruiting mercenaries: Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.
© Russian Look/Uncredit/Imago/dpa/Montage
Russia's war against Ukraine: the battle for Bachmut resulted in heavy losses for the Wagner group
The Wagner group is considered extremely brutal.
In the Ukraine war, the mercenaries fought for Russia on the front lines for a long time.
In the past few weeks, they have mainly been used in the battle for Bachmut.
But the losses in the ranks of the private army are enormous.
Reports that commanders are exposing their fighters to sniper and artillery fire from the Ukrainian army without protection have been piling up lately.
Pictures of the Ukraine war: great horror and small moments of happiness
Pictures of the Ukraine war: great horror and small moments of happiness
In the past few months, the Wagner Group had been able to compensate for the high losses in its own ranks.
Among other things, the mercenary boss had recruited prisoners for military service in prisons.
But the Russian Ministry of Defense had recently put a stop to the goings-on - and finally took over the recruitment in the prisons itself.
Observers see this as a sign of a power struggle between Prigozhin and the army leadership.
Recruitment of mercenaries: Putin wants to sideline Prigozhin in the power struggle – is Wagner losing his strength?
After military successes such as the capture of some Ukrainian cities and communities, Prigozhin aggressively boasted about the strength of his Wagner group on social media - and repeatedly criticized the military leadership for failure.
In the meantime there was even speculation as to whether the Wagner boss might be aiming to succeed Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
But this has made Prigozhin quite a few enemies in the Kremlin.
An excessive strengthening of the private army should now apparently be prevented.
At least Prigozhin himself harbors this suspicion.
In his Telegram post, he admitted that it was of course "bad" that he was no longer allowed to mobilize prisoners.
He suspects "forces" that want to damage his company because it is "more active and successful" at the front than the army.
(
jkf
)
List of rubrics: © Russian Look/Uncredit/Imago/dpa/Montage