After the loss of the prigozhin-kadyrov group for leadership in the russian army to the shoigu-gerasimov group, the struggle for a place next to putin has not ended, but is only gaining momentum. The russian mass media and social networks controlled by opponents joined in discrediting prigozhin and his PMC “Wagner”. The latest “throw-in” of the video about the execution with a sledgehammer of another Wagnerian “traitor” d.yakushenko, who surrendered to the Ukrainian military, is deliberately presented in social networks with a negative connotation. It is also emphasized that before joining the “Wagner group” he was repeatedly convicted of robbery and murder. Moreover, evidence has emerged that kremlin-controlled bloggers and television outlets have been ordered to keep quiet about prigozhin and his PMC. Thus, the “methodology” that the ministry of defense of the russian federation sent out to the media “accidentally” got into the network, where in several points in black and white they demand not to mention or quote prigozhin and the “Wagner” PMC. In particular, “manual” strongly recommends mass media and sites on the Internet “in the course of covering the hostilities in the Donetsk direction (Artemivsk (Bakhmut), Soledar, Klishchiivka, Pidhirne, Krasnopillya, Blagodatne, Mykolaivka, etc.) to completely abandon references to the PMC “Wagner” and its president je.progozhin. In all materials on the specified topic, they are forced to use the wording “assault units”, “volunteers of the assault units”, “russian paratroopers”, “airborne units”, “russian marines”, “marine units”, “artillery and aviation of the Southern Military district”, “United grouping of troops (forces)”, “russian troops”, “armed forces of the russian federation”, etc. One of the points of the “manual” emphasizes that the creature of prigozhin – serhiy surovikin – should be covered in a neutral way, which looks absolutely logical against the background of his replacement as the chief of the general staff of the armed forces of the russian federation by the creature of shoigu – v.gerasimov
It is also suggested not to cite prigozhyn’s statements regarding the situation in the area of the “SMO” in the materials of the mass media and on Internet platforms, to ignore the subject of the recruitment of prisoners and their further participation in the military operation. Shoigu’s subordinates intercepted prigozhin’s initiative to use prisoners as “meat”. Now, fighters from among the prisoners will be recruited into the newly formed units of the russian regular army, and prigozhin was forced to publicly announce the end of the recruitment of prisoners to the PMC and the redirection of those already recruited to other military units of the russian army.
The authenticity of the document is questionable, but the very fact of “throw-in” shows that the dirtiest methods have begun to be used in the struggle for a seat in the kremlin. In turn, political scientist s.markov stated in an interview with The New York Times that guests of any talk shows on russian TV received a ban from the ministry of defense on the mention of prigozhin.
A real war of compromising materials is unfolding in the information space. We remember how russian propaganda highlighted Soledar’s capture. Initially, the russian armed forces were mentioned as the forces occupying the city, then some “volunteer units” and only after the public scandal of prigozhin was the main role of the Wagnerites recognized. For his part, prigozhin also used dirty methods, for example, publicly insulting the generals, which in the end gave the surovikin a “disservice”. Another opponent of prigozhin is the leadership of the FSS, which collects compromising information on him and periodically “throws” it into the information space. Corruption scandals surrounding state contracts and tenders for the supply of food, his son’s purchase of land and real estate in st. petersburg leave prigozhyn no chance for a political future.
❗️ “putin’s cook” suffered a complete defeat in the struggle with the shoigu’s team, he was never able to maintain closeness to putin. Judging by the methods that putin uses, it is most likely that he will be “cleaned up”, unless he hides in Africa at that time. This led to the collapse of his coalition with kadyrov, who began to focus on strengthening positions within the republic. At the same time, kadyrov demonstrates loyalty to putin, hoping to stay in power.
Against the background of the redistribution of spheres of influence among the main political players, the “arms race” continues and the creation, following the example of “Wagner”, of their own private armies. Under Vugledar in the Donetsk region, the “Patriot” PMC, affiliated with the current minister of defense of the russian federation, was noticed, and it competes with the “Wagnerites”. The energy monopolist Gazprom Nafta is also creating its own PMC, and in Crimea, the occupiers announced the recruitment of mercenaries for the newly created private military companies “Shchyt” and “Rusych”. Former military personnel and other employees of the security forces are being recruited for the new formations, with priority given to officers.
However, internal “showdowns” significantly weaken the putin regime, disorganize the actions of the russian army on the Ukrainian front, and bring the defeat of the so-called “SMO”.
