According to analysts, the Kremlin probably turned to J. Prigozhin’s irregular forces to survive a difficult period after the 2022 In the summer, the offensive of Russian conventional forces in the Luhansk region ended.
According to experts, this appeal misled Mr. Prigozhin and forced him to overestimate his importance in Russia’s military and political spheres.
According to analysts, the Kremlin is likely to gradually end his privileges.
According to experts, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Valery Gerasimov, and the Russian Defense Ministry have also embarked on a new effort to professionalize the military, an effort that, if successful, would marginalize parallel military formations such as the Wagner group.
“It is likely that Mr. Prigozhin feels and worries about his declining influence, so he started attacking the nationalist faction of veterans,” the ISW analysis reads.
Veteran faction at least from 2022. May demands that the Russian military leadership correct the shortcomings of the conventional campaign instead of focusing on ineffective and unconventional solutions.
January 28 Prigozhin continued to pelt Igor Girkin, a prominent voice of Russian nationalists and a former Russian military officer with ties to the Russian veterans community, with vulgar insults and accusations that he was responsible for the defeat of Russian forces in Slovyansk in 2014.
J. Prigozhin accused I. Girkin, a parliamentarian of the Russian State Duma and a member of the Defense Committee, retired lieutenant general Viktor Sobolev and the leader of the Russian Liberal Democratic Party, Leonidas Slutsky, of living in the past, when Russia relied on conventional forces.
V. Sobolev previously supported the efforts of the Russian Ministry of Defense to professionalize the army by introducing training standards, and L. Sluckis passionately advocated that the Kremlin in 2022 would announce a mobilization in the early fall to correct the dire situation at the front.
“J. Prigozhin began to persecute these three individuals most likely in order to undermine their credibility and advocacy for reforms and improvements in the military, which would further marginalize his undisciplined and brutal parallel military forces,” ISW writes.
Mr. Prigožin has also been charged with bribery, which may further tarnish his reputation, regardless of their validity.
January 27 Mr. Prigozhin responded to a media inquiry regarding speculation that he receives bribes from convicts who later do not serve at the front, but still receive a pardon for “service”.
The charges allege that Mr. Prigozhin recruited and soon released a convicted MP from the Lipetsk region, Andrei Yaitsky (who some commentators speculated was physically unfit for military service), who received a pardon in exchange for a bribe.
Mr. Prigozhin tried to counter the accusations, claiming that Wagner had discharged Jaicki with honors after suffering serious injuries at the front, and added the alleged testimony of Mr. Jaitski’s alleged commanders, who portrayed him as a hero.
“ISW cannot independently verify these allegations of bribery against Mr. Prigozhin, but their emergence is significant given that corruption and bribery are endemic in Russia and a hated cultural vice of Russians,” the analysis reads.