Jun 14, 2023 7:18 am
The Russian mercenary group publishes a manifesto against the Ministry of Defense, listing the differences in the treatment of Wagner compared to the regular army. And he accuses the military leaders of corruption and incompetence. Here’s how thousands of Russians escaped mobilization and why they can’t anymore
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There Russia She begins to tire of the war. Tired because, in addition to dealing with the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the southeast and with the Cooling down of public support, is increasingly being torn apart by internal conflicts at military field commands. There Break between the Wagner group and the Russian General Staff it is almost complete, at least in the propaganda. Which counts more in Russia than in any other state, including its own ministry. The criticisms and social statements of Prigozhin They are getting heavier and heavier with allegations cowardice, corruption and incompetence addressed directly to the leaders of the Russian army via video. minister shoigu in advance. It also ends in the storm the management of the mobilized, although many Russians have managed to avoid recruitment in recent months by fleeing abroad for a while and then returning as if nothing had happened. That’s how they did it.
In geopolitical terms
Russia is an empire. And empires are deep states ruled by machines and powerful forces that maneuver everything in the dark rooms of the Kremlin. A state whose people’s hearts are more unyielding and harder than the cosmopolitan showcases of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Behind Putin’s back there is a power struggle involved
Oligarchs, siloviki and strongmenas
Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Prigozhin’s War For several weeks now, the head of the Wagner Group has been unleashing a veritable war within a war, attacking the Russian military leaders on the home front. And he’s gaining a political clout that, according to several analysts, has catapulted him into the middle of the power struggle to succeed Vladimir Putin. Whether he succeeds is another matter: it would indeed be an option that would be difficult to implement even with the support of the Wagner fighters, who are infinitely outnumbered by regular Russian troops. Meanwhile, however, “Putin’s chef” is mercilessly attacking the Russian Ministry of Defense and especially its owner, Sergei Shoigu. As always in nationalist wars, the state bureaucracy, defined as “ossified”, is in the crosshairs. A bureaucracy that, according to Prigozhin, has “thrown out brilliant people who say what they think”. People who welcomed the Wagner brigade, as in the case of Commander Salem, who was mutilated in Bachmut, celebrated on Telegram with photos. “We are defending the homeland, and what prevents us from defending the homeland is the state. I served in the army for 21 years and personally saw how the army fell apart under Serdyukov and then under the current Minister Shoigu. Favorites and leaks continued while those who struggled ended up losing it all. And now the ministry is trembling with fear at the sight of the Ukrainian counter-offensive.”
Kremlin wants to absorb Wagner, but Prigozhin growls (and leaves Ukraine) “The Orchestra” and “The Musicians”, as the Wagner mercenaries are called and like to be called, embody hybrid warfare at its finest
of our day: We fight not only with battles, we also fight with social propaganda. The videos posted by Prigozhin, always in military gear and facing the camera, underscore how the mercenaries left the Ukrainian battlefield on June 5 to return on August 5. A time when the political and military weight of the Wagner group will increase, possibly prompting the Kremlin to review the balance of power in the chain of command. Meanwhile, Moscow is attempting to take Wagner directly under its control. Only “the hated” Shoigu signed a decree directing all Russian volunteer formations to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry by July 1. Prigozhin obviously thundered that he would not sign any treaty with Shoigu, stating that his only obligation was to the Russian Federation. “We have a contract. A contract with a company, a contract with the country, with a conscience.”
The Manifesto of the Wagner Group “What is the difference between MO (Ministry of Defense) and PMC (Wagner Group)?” This question begins the new manifesto that the mercenary militia is publishing on its very active Telegram channel. A provocative question that seeks to underscore that the paramilitary group is vastly preferable for a soldier to the regular Russian army for reasons ranging from pay to discharge, from effectiveness to loyalty and honor. The translation from Russian is as literal as possible.
1. In the Wagner brigades, you know that you go home after six months, maybe even earlier if you’re injured. In the Moscow region, even rehabilitation leave is not granted.
2. In Wagner brigades, the rescue and evacuation team will always follow you. In other formations, rescuers may tell you they are not coming and that you will not get help.
3. In Wagner brigades, a regimental commander is located in an adjacent trench. A division commander, on the other hand, will instead be two trenches away directing the battle.
4. In the Wagner brigades, at the request of the commander-in-chief, not only the artillery of the detachment, but also those of higher rank will rush to your aid. And they will strike where necessary.
5. In the Wagner brigades, the fine and incentive system is specific. Not like the Department of Defense, where we haven’t heard about bonuses for damaged vehicles and for defeating the enemy.
6. A Wagner fighter’s motto is essentially “storm and calm,” which will be true calm. When you’re on duty, you don’t have to do 50 other tasks at the same time while your colleagues are off.
A propaganda error: the Simonyan case Journalist Margarita Simonyan, one of the Kremlin’s megaphones, the big face of Russian state television, was heavily attacked at home for suggesting something that was beyond influence. And that means that perhaps it would be appropriate to stop this gruesome bloodshed. “Because Western missiles and powerful weapons will arrive on Russian soil, the war in Rostov and Belgorod will end.” Simonyan also said that the areas that clearly do not want to be in the federation “do what they want, we need those not those who don’t want to be with us. Referendums are being held and it shows.” Hearing that from her is quite incredible, because Simonian once said: “After Ukraine it’s Poland’s turn”, so not really a dove in the flock of war hawks, quite the opposite . According to some, he deliberately drew an unworkable scenario to underscore the legitimacy of Russia’s claims. However, according to many others, he wanted to prepare Russian public opinion for two scenarios:
– to a compromise peace in which Putin (but inevitably Zelenskyy too) backs down from extremely rigid positions and undeniable demands to sit down at an impossible peace table;
– to a very long war, which also extended to Russian territory.
How thousands of Russians escaped mobilization The mood of the population of Russia towards the war in Ukraine has changed. While a year ago support for the Putin operation seemed almost unreserved, today it has slipped into indifference and even opposition in some regions (especially the most remote and border regions like Buryatia and Dagestan), leading to fires in recruitment centers leads. out ofAnnouncement of a partial mobilization (and earlier) men of draft age were personally given a postcard to this day. By hand. Those who were not at home got away with it. In fact, thousands of Russians escaped mobilization and war by fleeing to “friendly” countries like Turkey, Bali and Dubai, only to return after all the necessary men were recalled to the front lines.
Electronic mobilization: what is changing? The Russian mobilization system has switched from a personally delivered postcard to an electronic database, according to a new law enacted by Putin. A spid of sorts, to put it bluntly: a digital identity launched in 2009 to pay taxes, bills and book visits, and was widely used during the anti-Covid vaccination period. Now the Kremlin is using it to conscript citizens aged 18 to 50. If a citizen of this age group does not download the Госуслуги (“Gosuslugi”) smartphone app, they are technically a deserter. If you don’t have it on your mobile phone, you won’t be able to see the notification that the state sent you to mobilize. But that notification was sent, and the Kremlin knows it. Because all citizens who can be mobilized are recorded in a digital list that emerged from the merger of the civil and military state archives. Deserter status also applies to those who were not on Russian territory at the time of reporting. What happens to these people? They essentially lose their civil rights: their driver’s license is automatically revoked, they cannot access public health care, they cannot leave the country or they cannot return.
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