Wagner mercenary boss and Russian military chiefs at war — with each other

[Boats]

Wagner mercenary boss and Russian military chiefs at war — with each other
By: Mary lluushina - The Washington Press 02-22-23
Re: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...ia-infighting/

RIGA, Latvia — In the photos, dozens of dead Russian mercenaries were piled up on frozen ground — some half-naked, some wrapped in a tarp. Images like these might usually appear on Ukrainian Telegram channels, but this time they were posted by Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the financier of the infamous Wagner mercenary group, who went public with his most bitter attack yet against Russia’s regular military, claiming his fighters were deprived of ammunition and, as a result, died “in heaps” in Ukraine.

In his state of the nation address Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin omitted any mention of his battlefield defeats and steep casualties, and instead attempted to relay an image of a united country working to crush a common enemy.

But even as Putin spoke, the fierce personal attacks unleashed publicly by Prighozin against Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, and Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff who is now the overall operational commander of the war, exposed what the Russian president refused to admit: His war is flagging, and key players in the Kremlin’s orbit are now at each other’s throats.

Prigozhin, who made billions through government catering contracts, has fallen in and out of favor with Putin and his closest circle in recent years. But having built Wagner into a private army, he seized the chance created by the war in Ukraine to emerge as a national power player and sent at least 50,000 fighters to the front after the regular military suffered huge losses early on.

While ordinary Russians face severe prison sentences for bad-mouthing the military or criticizing the war, Prigozhin has been permitted to attack Shoigu, Gerasimov and other military commanders with seemingly no repercussions, presumably because he is protected by Putin, who may see benefit in the squabbling — as insurance against any one faction turning against him.

Photo link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-ap...ized.jpg&w=691
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and Chief of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov attend a meeting with senior military officers in Moscow on Dec. 21, 2022. (Sergey Fadeichev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Kremlin watchers have long noted Putin’s decision to split the battlefield into fiefs controlled by the Defense Ministry, by Prigozhin’s Wagner fighters and by paramilitary forces loyal to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, among others.

In a recording published by his news service Monday, Prigozhin lamented that Russian generals were stonewalling his ammunition requests. “They all point their fingers up and say, ‘You know you have a complicated relationship up there, so you have to go apologize and obey, then your fighters will get the ammo,’ ” Prigozhin said, making veiled references to Shoigu and Gerasimov.

Prigozhin attacked military officials who he said ate their meals off “golden plates” and sent their children and grandchildren on holidays to Dubai while soldiers were dying in the war. It was an apparent reference to Shoigu’s daughter, who was recently spotted vacationing in the United Arab Emirates.

The Russian Defense Ministry, which normally ignores any public criticism, offered a rare response, calling Prigozhin’s “exalted” statements false.

The ministry said its command “pays special, constant and priority attention” to providing “everything necessary” to “volunteers,” the way officials refer to illegal mercenaries.

“Attempts to split the close mechanism of interaction and support between the divisions of the Russian group are counterproductive and play only to the advantage of the enemy,” the Defense Ministry added.

[Putin assures Russia he will win the war, then suspends nuclear arms deal.}

In addition to the ugly feud between Prigozhin and the military chiefs, other fissures may be emerging in the Russian government.

Alexander Baunov, a political analyst with the Carnegie Endowment, noted that Putin seems to be showing less regard for the Foreign Ministry. “Putin’s address contained praise for almost everyone: the military, the public, the government and Duma, private businesses, doctors and teachers,” Baunov tweeted. “Everyone except diplomats.”

In his speech, Putin also took a jab at the Russian business elite, particularly oligarchs hit hard by sanctions, saying they will also be considered “second class citizens” in the West. “Believe me, none of the ordinary citizens of the country took pity on those who lost their capital in foreign banks, did not pity those who lost their yachts, palaces abroad, and so on,” Putin said.

Still, whatever divisions may be emerging elsewhere, they do not approach the viciousness of Prigozhin’s attacks on the military. On Tuesday, he published a second angry recording, saying his men were dying “because some strange people take decisions on whether they will live or not live.” Then, the bitter infighting continued Wednesday on the morning after Putin’s speech.

“I posted this photo of one of the points where we collect the dead, and all these guys died yesterday because of this so-called ammunition hunger,” Prigozhin said in an interview with a popular military blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky. “There should have been five times fewer dead … Who’s fault is this that they died? Those who should have solved the supply issue are to blame.”

NOTE: “The sign-off must come either from Gerasimov or Shoigu, but neither wants to make a decision,” Prigozhin added.

The conflict between Prigozhin and Russia’s top military brass has been brewing for weeks, as Wagner fighters appeared to notch some territorial gains in Ukraine following months of retreats by the regular military. Last month, Shoigu demoted Gen. Sergei Surovkin, who had been operational commander of the war and repeatedly won praise from Prigozhin.

Prigozhin has engaged in a series of media stunts, including flying in a fighter jet and publicly challenging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to a dogfight.

Wagner’s minimal gains, including capturing the town of Soledar, have come at a huge cost. The mercenary group for months has led an assault intended to advance and capture the city of Bakhmut, which Ukrainian officials called the “bloodiest” spot on the front line. But it continues to suffer massive losses there, and Priogzhin may not be able to replenish his ranks as easily as he did last year by recruiting in prisons.

2nd photo link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-ap...KCQ4.JPG&w=691
A part of a rocket is seen near a building damaged by a Russian military strike in the front line city of Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Tuesday. (Alex Babenko/Reuters) (Stringer/Reuters)

In mid-February, Prigozhin admitted he is no longer able to recruit convicts, who have made up about 80 percent of the 50,000 Wagner force in Ukraine, according to U.S. assessments.

Analysts said Prigozhin’s public outburst this week showed weakness and recognition that he has lost standing. “This recording is an act of desperation,” said Tatiana Stanovaya, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “It is rather an attempt to get through to Putin through publicity, to frighten the military authorities with political consequences.”

[Putin, czar with no empire, needs military victory for his own survival.]

“Prigozhin does not have direct access to Putin and cannot solve his problems directly,” Stanovaya added. “With Surovikin, as it follows from the audio, everything more or less worked, but now that Gerasimov is in command, difficulties have arisen that require political intervention.”

Wagner has sent poorly equipped men in waves to overwhelm and exhaust the enemy, which resulted in staggering losses among inmates-turned-mercenaries. The White House recently estimated that about 30,000 members of the group have been injured or killed.

Prigozhin also published a copy of a written request for various types of ammunition signed by a Wagner officer and addressed to Gerasimov, which effectively confirms that Wagner is closely coordinated with the Russian military, though mercenary groups are technically illegal in Russia.

“When we will run out of all the Wagner fighters, it’s Shoigu and Gerasimov that will probably have to take up arms,” Prigozhin said in the interview with Tatarsky. “All Russians should speak out and say: ‘Give ammunition to Wagner.”

Analysts said that replacing Surovikin was primarily an attempt to establish a proper chain of command, but it also infuriated Prigozhin and turned him into even more of a loose cannon.

“As long as Putin is relatively strong and able to maintain a balance between influence groups, Prigozhin is not dangerous,” Stanovaya said. “But the sign of weakness could provoke Prigozhin to challenge power, even if not directly Putin’s at first. War breeds monsters, whose recklessness and desperation can become a challenge to the state.”

War in Ukraine: What you need to know:

The latest: President Biden made a dramatic, unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, in a display of robust American support for Ukraine just four days before the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The high-risk visit to the historic Ukrainian capital signaled continued commitment from the United States, Ukraine’s largest financial and military backer. Biden is set to visit Poland next, to discuss Western efforts to help Ukraine resist Russia’s invasion. Read the latest here.

The fight: Russia has been targeting Ukrainian civilian infrastructure with missile and drone strikes since October, often knocking out electricity, heating and water in the country. Despite heavy fighting, no side has made significant gains for months. Western allies agreed to a new wave of elaborate weapons, including Leopard tanks, hoping it may change the balance on the battlefield.

A year of war: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war has set off a historic exodus of his own people, with data showing that at least 500,000, and perhaps nearly 1 million, have left Russia since the start of the conflict in Ukraine. Despite that and extensive sanctions, the Russian economy has remained more resilient than many expected. There are signs, however, that Putin’s luck may be starting to run out.

Photos: Washington Post photographers have been on the ground from the beginning of the war — here’s some of their most powerful work.

How you can help: Here are ways those in the United States can support the Ukrainian people as well as what people around the world have been donating.

Read our full coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for updates and exclusive video.
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Personal note: Putin is a dead man walking right now. His big plans
have gone south and he's blaming everybody but himself. He's
loosing his so called power more and more and the Russian's
are really paying the price and his people and his cabinet know
he's a dead man walking. When it happens who will step up and
in control and how quick will they scale back their big Putin
plans to conquer Ukraine.
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Apply a little more heat or bad news - it may be enough is
enough that someone will take him out. Eventually it will
come to that - and break his dreams and his position of
leadership..
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Basically Putin is a dead man walking - and like so many other
leaders you will to take him out as won't step down. the bury
him on the border Russia and Ukraine so he can dream away
his personal dreams. Deep six him tied to one of ornaments
better yet bury him on the Ukraine/Russia border lines since
he wanted it - so bad!
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The longer you wait the more things will progress and
possibly end with nukes galore.
-=

[Boats]

Fight between Wagner leader and Russian Defense Ministry is ‘unprecedented': State Department
By: Mike Brest - Defense Reporter for Washington Examiner - 02-23-23 11:42 am
Re: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/p...-unprecedented

div id="Brid_77092319" class="brid" style="width:16; height:9;" itemprop="video" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/VideoObject">
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The ongoing friction between Russia's Ministry of Defense and the leader of the Wagner mercenary group is "unprecedented," according to a top State Department official.
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Russian defense leaders have butted heads with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner Group founder, in recent months as the soldiers under both have fought and lost thousands on the front lines of their war in Ukraine. Prigozhin has become more willing to criticize Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu publicly in recent months as his troops fought in the small salt mining town of Soledar and its larger city neighbor of Bakhmut.
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WAGNER MERCENARY GROUP FOUNDER ACCUSES RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY OF 'TREASON'
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Earlier this week, he accused the top members of the Russian Defense Ministry of “treason” for allegedly providing his men with fewer resources than their own troops.
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Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said the tension between them is "unprecedented" during a Thursday morning event with the Washington Post.
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"The infighting is unprecedented within Putin's rule, in terms of the way it's spilled out into the public, with Prigozhin calling names and basically trying to get the Russian people's loyalty for his faction and to undercut the Russian military while they are in a war [is] absolutely unprecedented," she explained.
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Prigozhin's private army, which has brutally operated in several African nations in recent years, deployed roughly 50,000 personnel to Ukraine's eastern region following the military's initial significant battlefield losses. They have fought in the region for months amassing significant casualties, while the group's leader has repeatedly and publicly questioned top ministry leaders.
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The public nature of this dispute could indicate Russian President Vladimir Putin's "complete control over the various factions of power in the Russian state" may have "begun to fray."
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The Wagner leader alleged that his troops do not have the same supplies as Russian forces in a recording released on Tuesday by his press service on Telegram.
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"The Chief of the General Staff [Valery Gerasimov] and the Minister of Defense [Sergei Shoigu] are handing out commands right and left, that the Wagner PMC should not receive ammunition, they are also not helping with air transport,” Prigozhin claimed. “Wagner PMCs do not have ammunition. Why do the rest of the units also have a constant shortage of ammunition? A handful of military functionaries decided that this is their country, their people, who decided that these people would die when it suits them.”
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The Defense Ministry denied the claim, saying, “Attempts to split the close mechanism of interaction and support between the divisions of the Russian group are counterproductive and play only to the advantage of the enemy," according to the Washington Post.
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[Click the link below - to Read a post from The Washington Examiner News
Re: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/p...unprecedented]
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Prigozhin's troops in Ukraine include 10,000 contractors and another 40,000 convicts that had been in Russian prisons prior to joining the war as an opportunity to later gain their freedom, National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told reporters last month.

The Biden administration also announced a slew of new sanctions against the Wagner Group and designated it as a "transnational criminal organization," while there's a bipartisan group of senators trying once again to pass a bill that would require the State Department to designate the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary group, as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).
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Personal note: Regardless what you want to call them the are Guns for Hire. They
don't care who they work for as long they are paid. Wild Card gunslinger's they
go where the money goes - regardless of whomever they are hired to fight.
Mercenaries' work for money - and not for anyone's particular country. They
say their good at what they do - or it doesn't matter - as long their paid for
services rendered. (In short they are a Wild Bunch - to the highest bidder!
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