In a voice message on Telegram, Prigozhin complained about Shoigu: he and the chief of staff were depriving their Wagner fighters of ammunition, which amounted to treason. “There is simply direct opposition”, there was an attempt to “destroy Wagner”.
This is not the first time Prigozhin has publicly spoken negatively about the Defense Ministry. For example, he criticized the Russian army’s military setbacks and complained that the merits of its mercenaries were not sufficiently recognized.
The Kremlin must capture the debate
This unexpected public criticism already put the Kremlin into action, which was supposed to assure the public heart that there was no conflict between Wagner and the army. Such a conflict was invented abroad and “exists only in the editorial office,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in January.
Portal/Russian Ministry of Defense Sergei Shoigu
At that time, it was about disagreements over the capture of the city of Soledar in eastern Ukraine. Prigozhin repeatedly claimed that only his units were fighting in the city—and not Russian army soldiers either. He later reported the capture of Soledar, but the Russian Ministry of Defense initially objected and two days later reported the capture itself.
Prigozhin then published a message attacking those “who are constantly trying to steal our victories”. Hours later, the ministry responded with an “illuminating statement”, acknowledging that Wagner’s fighters had conquered Soledar with their “courageous deeds”. Prigozhin promptly awarded medals to his fighters in commemoration of the “conquest of Soledar”.
ambivalent relationships
The episode was an example of how the Kremlin can now have an ambivalent relationship with Wagner. In the Ukrainian war, mercenaries are of great value to Russia – the private organization fights with means that are outside martial law. Mercenaries are considered brutal and extremely brutal, against others as well as their own members.
The group was founded in 2014 by Lieutenant Colonel Dmitri Utkin, a Hitler admirer with a previous career at the Russian military intelligence agency GRU. The Kremlin’s direct link is Prigozhin, 62, who has spent the last decade in a Soviet prison for theft and fraud. He used to entertain President Vladimir Putin, who once worked in the St Petersburg city government, at his restaurant – which is why he is nicknamed “Putin’s cook”.
But Wagner is by no means only active in Ukraine: mercenaries have been or are active in a number of countries that are of strategic and economic interest to Russia. In virtually every country where Wagner fought, mercenaries were accused of serious war crimes and human rights violations.
“Making the Dead Disappear”
For years, the Kremlin first denied Wagner’s existence, then claimed that the Russian state had nothing to do with the group – which has been refuted by numerous investigations. Filmmakers Ksenia Bolchakova and Alexandra Jousset write along with Wagner’s former mercenary Marat Gabidullin: “By sending mercenaries, the state saves on pension rights and the salaries it pays to regular army soldiers. And it also makes it possible to make the dead disappear.”
debate
A Year of War in Ukraine: What Stops Putin?
Prigozhin now appears offensively as head of the organization, although he first publicly admitted in September that he had something to do with the Wagner group. He recently announced that he had “created and long run” the Internet Research Agency’s notorious troll factory in St. Petersburg. The agency’s task was to protect Russia from “aggressive propaganda of the West’s anti-Russian theses”.
task revoked
How much influence Prigozhin actually has in Putin’s entourage is unclear. Politicians did not want to let Prigozhin into politics, Sergei Markov, a former government adviser, told Portal. “They are a little afraid of him and think he is uncomfortable.” Recently, the Kremlin seems to have paid more attention to Prigozhin’s statements and public presence.
He was ordered, according to insider information, to stop publicly criticizing the Defense Ministry, and the state media was asked to stop naming the Wagner and Prigozhin squad. Prigozhin also confirmed that he was no longer allowed to independently recruit his mercenaries from prison camps. According to US estimates, around 40,000 men had already been recruited, some of whom were convicted of serious crimes. In early January, the first ones were released after six months of deployment.
Some also feared Prigozhin’s possible political ambitions. They even speculate that he might want to become defense minister. However, it currently seems unlikely that Putin will disown his former minister Shoigu, especially since in mid-January Valeri Gerasimov, chief of staff Valeri Gerasimov, a close confidant of Shoigu, became commander in chief of the mission in Ukraine.
Prigozhin, the rich businessman
Whether Prigozhin plans new roles for himself or not, he has long secured himself financially. He and his group have several sources of income: Prigozhin owns the media and a large catering company that supplies state institutions. He can also gain access to lucrative resources in Ukraine that are under Russian control, such as the Soledar salt mine. Wagner also has military and mining contracts in Africa.
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that in the four years before Moscow invaded Ukraine, Prigozhin generated more than a quarter of a billion dollars in revenue from his global commodities empire. Even years of Western sanctions against Prigozhin – the first being imposed in 2016 – would not have stopped hundreds of millions of oil, gas, diamonds and gold exploration from flowing into his pocket.
Wagner was or is active in Syria and Mali, Sudan and the Central African Republic. In these countries, mercenaries helped to suppress democratic movements. In exchange for Russia’s help, the Kremlin and Wagner gain access to resources such as gold mines in Sudan. In Mali, Wagner received almost eleven million dollars (ten million euros) a month for “security and training”.
“I spit on sanctions”
According to the Financial Times, Prigozhin’s company, Evro Polis, has received energy concessions from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in exchange for liberating the oil fields from the IS militia. Evro Polis reported sales of $134 million and net income of $90 million in 2020. The data also showed how some companies controlled by Prigozhin relocated their operations before the West could sanction them.
Prigozhin does not take the punitive measures taken abroad seriously. These sanctions are illegal, he wrote on Telegram. “I spit on him and I will spit on all other sanctions as well.”