Not a power struggle: Prigozhin’s Wagner group does the dirty work in the Ukraine war for Putin – like the Waffen SS? Yes, says an expert.
Moscow – dispute instead of unity: recently the mercenaries were the Wagner group mainly noticed through quarrels with the Kremlin. Above all, the head of the private army, Yevgeny Prigozhin, severely taunted Russia’s military leadership because of the lack of success in the war Ukraine war. Sometimes the Wagner boss has already been said to have ambitions for the presidential chair. But there can be no question of a real feud.
Ukraine war: Wagner group around Prigozhin has the “license to kill”
That’s how it works Russia-Expert Andreas Heinemann-Grüder assumes a clear division of tasks between the Russian army and the Wagner Group. “The group’s mercenaries have a license to kill, so to speak,” the political scientist said in an interview with the news channel n-tv. Because Prigozhin’s private army is not bound by the Geneva Convention. As a result, the Wagner group could be “left to carry out excessive murder”.
Wagner Group: Political scientist compares Prigozhin mercenaries to Waffen SS
Against this background, the scientist then drew a historical comparison. “From my point of view, this is a force that is comparable to the task forces of the German Waffen-SS in World War II,” said Heinemann-Grüder, referring to Prigozhin’s combat units. At that time, it was conscious that killer operations were outsourced to the SS units. “They, too, have done tasks that the Wehrmacht shouldn’t have done, especially in Ukraine and Belarus,” the political scientist continued.
Heavy losses in the Ukraine war: Wagner group does the dirty work at Bachmut
The mercenaries of the Wagner group are considered extremely brutal and notorious. They are currently mainly in Trench warfare deployed around the town of Bachmut. However, the battles there are very costly and record little progress. In the past few weeks, there have been repeated public disputes between the Kremlin and Wagner boss Prigozhin.
Although there are severe penalties for any criticism of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, Prigozhin accused the Russian military leadership of failure and instead boasted about the successes of the Wagner troupe and threatened to do so withdrawal of his troops. As a result, the Ministry of Defense denied the private army the opportunity to recruit new recruits in prisons. In the meantime, the troops are said to have great difficulty in being able to compensate for the high losses in their own ranks.
Power struggle with Putin? There is little evidence that Prigozhin will fall
Some observers saw the first signs that Prigozhin had become too powerful for the Kremlin and became Russia’s president Wladimir Putin wants to gradually let him be sidelined – also because the Wagner boss is repeatedly traded as a potential successor to the Kremlin boss. But Heinemann-Grüner sees no signs of Putin’s fall. “I think that’s out of the question,” he said to n-tv. Putin is still sitting reasonably firmly in the saddle – and in the end the Wagner troupe also help.
According to the scientist, Putin’s system of power is based on the fact that there are competing security apparatuses that the Kremlin boss can play off against one another. “It makes sense for him if there is always a competitor who can step in if something doesn’t work,” said Heinemann-Grüner. Prigozhin is probably there more to put pressure on the military. And vice versa also applies: If Wagner is not able to fulfill a task, the star of the general staff rises. The advantage for Putin: the Kremlin boss always finds a scapegoat.
“Intrigues hurt when fighting”: Prigozhin warns of defeat in the Ukraine war
The fact that you can quickly get caught between the fronts is perhaps something the Wagner boss himself has in mind. After the quarrels of the past few weeks, he suddenly warned of defeat in the Ukraine war. The Russian prospects in the war against Ukraine were becoming increasingly “foggy,” he suddenly announced via the online network “WKontakte”. The Russian troops would probably have “only a few weeks” left before a Ukrainian counterattack began. One is ill-prepared for this and one should finally concentrate on “keeping the frontline” and “forget all disputes, insults and everything else,” he quoted him as saying daily mirror. Because, as Prigoshin continues: “The intrigues interfere with fighting.” (jkf)
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