OLGA MALTSEWA / AFP
Ukraine: tensions between the Wagner group and the Russian army? Moscow speaks after Soledar (Illustrative photo: a meeting at the Wagner Group headquarters in Saint Petersburg on November 4, 2022)
WAR IN UKRAINE – “A Manipulation”: The Kremlin on Monday, January 16, denied any tensions between the Russian army and the paramilitary group Wagner, whose forces in Ukraine appear to be increasingly competitive.
“This conflict exists only in the information space,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Russia “must and knows how to recognize its heroes. It honors heroes serving in the armed forces (…) and those who hail from the Wagner paramilitary group,” he added. “Everyone is fighting for their country. »
The split between the Russian army and the Wagner Group, observed by many observers, erupted openly last week during the battle for the small town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine.
Wagner accuses the army of “stealing” his “victories”
The leader of the Wagner group, businessman Yevgeny Prigoyine, has repeatedly claimed that only his men are fighting Ukrainian forces in this city.
And when Yevgeny Prigojine claimed responsibility for taking Soledar on Wednesday, he was quickly contradicted by the Russian Defense Ministry, which itself announced taking the city two days later, which Kyiv denied.
Evguéni Prigojine published a message in which he, without naming them, “attacked those who are constantly trying to steal our victories”. Rarely did the Russian Defense Ministry then issue a press release praising the “courage” of Wagner’s men at Soledar.
“manipulation of information”
This saga has been widely covered and commented on by Russian military bloggers, including those supporting the offensive against Ukraine, many of whom are critical of the way the operation is being conducted.
Reports of tensions between the army and Wagner are “the product of information manipulations, sometimes carried out by our adversaries and sometimes by our own friends acting in a way that we don’t need an enemy,” Dmitry Peskov said in a veiled criticism of them bloggers.
Founded in 2014, the Wagner Group has recruited thousands of inmates to fight for reduced sentences in Ukraine. Evguéni Prigojine, formerly discreet, has established himself as a key player in the conflict in Ukraine.
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