ISW: Wagner Group financier Prigozhin continuing his efforts to undermine faith in Putin-aligned actors

Vladimir Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov attempted to dispel reports of an ongoing conflict between mercenary Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Ministry of Defense, stating on Jan. 16 that these reports are “products of information manipulation.” Peskov, however, added that while most of such manipulations come from Russia’s ”enemies,” the Kremlin has ”friends” who also behave in a similar way.

Peskov’s statement may have been tacitly aimed at Prigozhin, whose criticism of the ministry is growing increasingly brazen, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest report.

Prigozhin directly responded to Peskov’s statement in an interview question about the Defemse Ministry-Prigozhin conflict, adding that he has no reason to not trust Peskov.

"Prigozhin could have easily disproved reports of the conflict by simply denying them, but continued his tactic of using deliberately vague messaging in order to generate more discussion within the Russian information space, ultimately aimed at undermining confidence in the Defense Ministry and Putin," the ISW found.