Skip to content
Edit post

ISW: Prigozhin speculates there is Kremlin conspiracy to undermine, 'neutralize' Wagner Group

by The Kyiv Independent news desk March 17, 2023 4:37 AM 2 min read
This audio is created with AI assistance

Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed he received a press question exposing a plot spearheaded by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Russian Security Council Secretary to undermine and “neutralize” the Wagner Group.

The Institute for the Study of War said in its latest update that Prigozhin’s press service published a claimed request for comment on March 16 from Russian outlet Nezavisimaya Gazeta asking if Prigozhin was aware of alleged discussions between Putin and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev regarding the future of the Wagner Group.

The press comment claims that information on these discussions has recently circulated on Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels and alleges that Patrushev suggested to Putin that there will be “nothing left” of Wagner in “one and a half to two months.”

The post claims that Patrushev suggested that upon Wagner’s destruction in Ukraine, Prigozhin will try to “unite the former and remaining active Wagner fighters under a far-fetched pretext,” arm them, and "send them to the territory of Russia to seize power in the regions bordering Ukraine with a possible advance inland.”

The post concludes that Patrushev has already ordered observation and control over the movement of former Wagner fighters and that Putin reportedly agreed with this step and thanked Patrushev for his efforts to “neutralize Wagner in general and Yevgeny Prigozhin in particular.”

ISW has not observed "any information to suggest that these discussions have happened," nor has ISW captured any speculation in the Russian information space about them. Nezavisimaya Gazeta has not published the press comment on its own site. No record of the comment is visible anywhere other than in references to the post by Prigozhin’s press service.

"The lack of external confirmation on this subject suggests that Prigozhin has fabricated the alleged plot to further several information operations on behalf of Wagner and his own reputation," the ISW said.

Ukraine war latest: As Wagner's offensive in Bakhmut likely ‘nears culmination,’ Kyiv set to receive first MiG-29 jets

News Feed

6:15 AM  (Updated: )

Russian drone strike in Mykolaiv kills 5, injures 1.

Four people were killed and one 45-year-old woman was hospitalized following the attack, Governor Vitalii Kim said. Search and rescue operations have reportedly been completed.
2:20 PM

Ukraine launches largest drone attack on Moscow.

Russian air defense shot down 70 Ukrainian drones, including 34 in Moscow Oblast, in Ukraine’s largest drone attack on the Russian capital, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Nov. 10.
4:34 AM

EU preparing 15th sanctions package against Russia, targeting foreign-made parts.

"We have to strengthen anti-sanctions circumvention measures because Russia cannot produce (weaponry) without imported parts, chips and other components," the EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said at a news conference in Kyiv. "We should use sanctions to isolate Russia's industrial capabilities from imports from other countries."
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.