A power struggle is brewing in the Kremlin: President Putin sees himself exposed to the growing influence of Wagner boss Prigozhin.
Moscow – From Russia’s elite, one name keeps coming up in the context of the Ukraine war: Yevgeny Prigozhin. The 61-year-old is considered the mastermind behind the cruel everyday life at the front. Since Russia At the end of February the neighboring country Ukraine attacked and partially occupied, it gains in importance.
His CV is remarkable: Prigozhin, who, like Vladimir Putin, comes from Saint Petersburg, once delivered food to the Kremlin in Moscow – hence the nickname “Putin’s cook”. In the process, he gradually gained the President’s trust before he was increasingly acquainted with government affairs. As Prigozhin has now admitted, he founded the notorious mercenary group “Wagner” in 2014. He hired numerous criminals to do special jobs on behalf of Putin. Since then, “Wagner” mercenaries have been fighting for Russia in Mali, among other placesnow also in Ukraine.
Putin and Prigozhin: Will there be a power struggle in the Kremlin?
In order to compensate for the sometimes heavy losses in Russia, he has already recruited several times in the country’s prisons. He is said to have promised prisoners impunity for a six-month deployment at the front. However, Prigozhin does not comment on such rumors, as he now communicates too professionally for that. This is reported by fr.de.
For Vladimir Putin is Prigozhin still a puppet. However, there are increasing indications that Prigozhin could enter into a long-term power struggle for the presidency. For Mikhail Sygar, a longtime war reporter and Kremlin critic, “Putin’s cook” has become the greatest threat to Putin’s power: “Presumably at that moment Putin realized that Mr. Prigozhin might be a bit too popular,” he recently commented in the New York Times. Among other things, he awarded Prigozhin the title of “Villain of the Year”.
Putin is apparently reacting to Prigozhin’s increase in power in Russia
Indications that Putin identified Prigozhin as a threat could be two aspects. On the one hand serves for this the promotion of Vasilyevich Gerasimov to Chief of Staff in the Ukraine war as an an example. Gerasimov is considered to be consistent and has repeatedly emphasized that a reorganization of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine is necessary. Prigozhin has already tangled with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on several occasions – and has prevailed, especially in the eyes of the public. Putin apparently no longer wants this, but with Gerasimov as chief of staff it could succeed.
On the other hand, the communication of the Kremlin serves recent conquests in eastern Ukraine as an example: Putin had the advances sold as successes of his troops, especially through state-controlled channels: an attempt to control public opinion on the issue. Prigozhin responded with his own campaign, primarily on Telegram. He awarded numerous “Wagner” mercenaries who were involved with medals of honor for their courage.
Editor’s note
The information mentioned comes partly from warring parties in the Ukraine conflict. These can only be checked to a limited extent and directly in an independent manner.
In fact, many “Wagner” mercenaries took part in the conquests in Donbass. Without her, this might not have been possible. The think tank “Institute for the Study of War” recently analyzed that Putin was absolutely dependent on Prigozhin’s troops. Now, however, he is trying to book the successes for his own army, according to the ISW: possibly also to strengthen the new chief of staff. (do)
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