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Wagner Group chief Prigozhin criticized Putin after not receiving a reward for capturing Bakhmut.
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Prigozhin has feuded with each Putin and the Russian Ministry of Protection relating to Bakhmut, ISW stated.
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Russian state media has successfully banned reporting on Wagner, Prigozhin stated.
Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is perhaps criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ministry of Protection as a result of he did not get some kind of reward for capturing Bakhmut, new evaluation suggests.
In line with an replace from The Institute for the Study of War, Prigozhin’s repeated assaults towards Putin’s character — together with profane and thinly veiled insults earlier this month — and criticism of the Ministry of Protection could also be tied to a scarcity of reward for Wagner’s seize of Bakhmut.
“Prigozhin’s jabs at Putin and the Russian MoD — together along with his bragging about Wagner’s accomplishments — might counsel that Prigozhin is pissed off that he didn’t obtain some promised compensation for his victory within the Battle for Bakhmut,” ISW stated.
Whereas it is not clear what reward Prigozhin would have obtained, the issues round his seize of Bakhmut might point out a reluctance from Putin and Russian army leaders to reward him, based on the ISW.
A kind of issues is the timing of the particular seize of Bakhmut. ISW reported that the Kremlin hoped to sack Bakhmut sooner than Prigozhin truly did, presumably to check the win to Victory Day celebrations and the Soviet Union’s seize of Berlin in 1945.
Prigozhin stated Wagner troops took management of Bakhmut on Might 10, and cleared the town on Might 21, later blaming the delay on the shortage of ammunition supplied by the Russian Ministry of Protection, ISW said.
Prigozhin stated on Sunday that Kremlin media has successfully banned reporting about him or Wagner, seemingly due to his ongoing insults of Putin and Russian leaders, based on Reuters.
One of many earliest indicators of the reluctance to cowl Prigozhin got here after Wagner claimed victory in Bakhmut — Reuters reported that Russian state tv didn’t report on the autumn of Bakhmut for 20 hours and didn’t air Prigozhin’s victory speech.
When requested concerning the obvious ban on protection of him, Reuters reported that Prigozhin stated: “That top-level bureaucrats, these very towers of the Kremlin, try to close the mouths of everybody in order that they do not discuss Wagner will solely give one other shove to the individuals.”
Learn the unique article on Business Insider