![]() Prigozhin is effectively building a "constituency" of supporters and his own fighting force that are not under the direct control of the Russian military or the Ministry of Defense, the think tank said. "Prigozhin continues to accrue power and is setting up a military structure parallel to the Russian Armed Forces, which may come to pose a threat to Putin's rule-at least within the information space," ISW analysts wrote. The ISW assessed this week that the military group could "pose a threat to Putin's rule." defense and foreign affairs think tank, Prigozhin is sponsoring the formation of a volunteer battalion recruited by Russian war criminal Igor Girkin, a former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer. The continued attacks in Bakhmut also come amid anticipated gains by Ukraine in the Kherson region.Īccording to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. Prigozhin and Kadyrov have vilified Shoigu for a series of disastrous defeats that have left Russian forces in retreat, Barbieri added, referring to counteroffensives by Ukraine that have seen troops recapture swathes of territory in the south and northeast. "So this is in part a personal vendetta, too," she said. She added that Shoigu recently fired a deputy defense minister who had reportedly facilitated lucrative contracts for the Wagner Group. "He sees it as an opportunity to undermine Shoigu further and show the Kremlin the combat value of the Wagner Group while regular Russian military units continue to lose ground in other combat zones," Barbieri said. Jaroslava Barbieri, doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham, told Newsweek that Prigozhin likely has "ulterior motives" in pouring troops into the region. Mercenaries from Prigozhin's Wagner Group are reportedly supporting Russian troops in efforts to capture Bakhmut, a strategic town in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. They appear to be siding with each other in rare displays of dissent, suggesting that rifts and a potential power struggle may be emerging inside the Kremlin. He has publicly criticized Russia's defense ministry and its head, Sergei Shoigu. ![]() Russian billionaire and businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin attends a meeting with foreign investors at Konstantin Palace on June 16, 2016, in St. ![]()
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