The conflict between Prigozhin and Putin seems to be coming to a head.
This time the mercenary boss specifically attacks Russian private units.
Moscow – Wagner boss Prigozhin does not make himself popular with the Russian Ministry of Defense with his sharp criticism of the Kremlin.
Having repeatedly publicly condemned the conduct of the war, he now taunts the Kremlin's private military units and criticizes their ability to defend themselves at the front.
According to experts, Prigozhin fears the threat of competition for his Wagner group from the expansion of Vladimir Putin's private units.
Dispute between mercenary armies: Wagner boss Prigozchin wants to undermine private state units
In order to take action against state PMCs (private military groups), Prigozhin launched an information campaign.
In doing so, he wants to undermine the credibility of Russian PMCs, reports the Think Thank Institute Study of War (ISW).
Prigozhin specifically targets the units “Potok” and “Alexander Nevsky”.
He claims to have visited them at their sites and sharply criticized the poor condition of these units.
The Potok unit is reportedly one of three volunteer divisions of Russia's state-owned energy company Gazprom.
Prigozhin claimed that the Potok units were to support the Wagner group at the front.
However, he questioned their ability given their lack of adequate supplies and weapons.
The Wagner boss also criticized the general spread of such PMCs, which ISW experts interpret as his fear of growing competition for his shadow army.
Does Wagner boss Prigozhin fear growing competition?
Putin's private fighters complain about a lack of weapons
According to ISW, sources close to Wagner also claimed that there was tension between the Wagner mercenaries and the Potok unit fighters.
Notorious Wagner mercenaries assigned Potok fighters to new, unspecified defensive positions to allow Prigozhin's fighters to regroup.
However, the state-controlled private unit gave up these assigned positions and enabled the Ukrainian forces to recapture the area.
According to the ISW, employees of the Potok unit released a video message on April 24 in which they accused their command units of not providing them with adequate weapons and supplies.
Apparently, they also accused Wagner's executives of forbidding them to leave their posts.
Some military bloggers, also close to the Wagner group, have criticized the Potok unit for blaming their lead companies and attributing their poor combat performance to their volunteer status.
Putin's circle of power in the Kremlin - the confidants of the Russian President
Putin's circle of power in the Kremlin - the confidants of the Russian President
Conflict between Prigozhin and Putin comes to a head - relationship remains ambivalent
The relationship between Prigozchin and the Kremlin boss has always been mixed.
There were frequent conflicts between Prigozhin and Putin.
The Wagner boss had repeatedly caused a stir with strange statements about the Ukraine war.
Contrary to Russian war propaganda, Prigozhin denied that Russia was fighting "Nazis" in Ukraine.
The Kremlin, in turn, had distanced itself from Prigozhin after he drew a comparison with Stalingrad.
But even if both camps are often hostile to each other, they try to benefit from each other as much as possible.
The Kremlin is apparently aiming for closer cooperation with the Wagner group in order to give more impetus to the conquest of Bakhmut.
One indication of this is the return of the Russian Colonel-General Mikhail Teplinsky to the war front.
Prigozhin, who had often supported Teplinsky in the past, now apparently confirmed Teplinsky's Wagner affiliation in a public statement of support.
(bohy)
