Wagner warlord Vevgeny Prigozhin (pictured with Putin) has claimed he has been told of a plot spearheaded by Vladimir Putin to undermine and ‘neutralise’ the feared Russian mercenary group
- Prigozhin claims he was told of plot spearheaded by Putin to ‘neutralise’ Wagner
- But experts have cast doubt on Prigozhin’s claims and say they are fabricated
Wagner warlord Vevgeny Prigozhin has claimed he has been told of a plot spearheaded by Vladimir Putin to undermine and ‘neutralise’ the feared Russian mercenary group.
Prigozhin claimed he received a series of questions from Russian newspaper Nezivisimaya Gazeta that apparently exposed the plot to ‘neutralise’ Wagner and the warlord in particular.
Nikolai Patrushev, the head of Russia‘s Security Council, is said to have told Putin that he believes after the Ukraine war, Prigozhin will try to unite his mercenaries and send them to Russia to ‘seize power’ in the regions bordering Ukraine before potentially advancing inland.
Patrushev allegedly said in the meeting that he has already ordered for Russian troops to observe Wagner mercenaries and control their movement over fears they could rise up against Putin. A paranoid Putin reportedly thanked Patrushev for his efforts to ‘neutralise Wagner in general and Prigozhin in particular’.
However, experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have cast doubt on Prigozhin’s claims he received media questions exposing the plot and said there is no evidence that the discussions between Putin and Patrushev occurred.
Instead, the experts claim Prigozhin has fabricated the alleged plot in a bizarre attempt to smear Russia’s military establishment and set ‘careful information conditions to blame Patrushev for Wagner’s failures and potential crackdowns against the group’.
Ukrainian soldiers of the Paratroopers’ of 80th brigade fire a mortar shell at a frontline position near Bakhmut, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Thursday
Since Putin’s war began in Ukraine, Prigozhin has been publicly critical of Russia’s army and military leadership – and his fondess for lambasting top army brass and anyone else in his way has angered some in government who want him reined in.
Now, murky claims have emerged that Putin is plotting to ‘neutralise’ Wagner and Prigozhin – or so the warlord would like it to seem.
Prigozhin’s press service yesterday published a series of questions allegedly sent to the Wagner chief by the Nezivisimaya Gazeta newspaper about an apparent meeting between Putin and Patrushev – details of which were apparently circulating on Telegram.
The alleged press comment claims that Patrushev told Putin there will be ‘nothing left’ of the Wagner group in ‘one and a half to two months’ due to the sheer scale of losses in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut where the mercenaries are fighting Ukrainian troops.
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By: Miss Cherry May Timbol – Independent Reporter
