Moscow (EFE).- The head of the Wagner group of Russian mercenaries, Yevgueni Prigozhin, has been in conflict with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense for months, a tension that has been increasing and has led to an armed rebellion led by this businessman from 62 years.
But what has led you to take this step? These are the keys that explain the conflict with the Minister of Defence, Sergei Shoigu, and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Valeri Guerásimov.
Background in Syria
The friction between Wagner and Defense dates back to the Russian campaign in Syria, during which Prigozhin accused Shoigu on several occasions of using “archaic methods.”
For his part, the Russian Defense Minister responded to Prigozhin, known as the “chef” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, for his catering contracts with the State, criticizing the poor quality of the food supplied to the Russian Army in Syria. .
Prigozin blamed the Russian military command for having attacked Wagner’s positions in Palmyra, where three mercenaries were killed, and one of the commanders of the paramilitary group, Andrei Bogatov, lost an arm.
He also accused Moscow of deliberately causing US aircraft fire on mercenaries during the Khasham battle in 2018.
Taking of Soledar
Although Wagner’s forces, largely made up of ex-prisoners recruited by Prigozhin, joined the Ukrainian campaign virtually from the start, they began to gain prominence during the seizure of the town of Soledar in the Russian-annexed Donetsk region of Ukraine. last september.
The head of the paramilitary group criticized Defense on several occasions for not giving his men the credit they deserved for taking the town in their war parts.
In fact, he directly accused the military leadership of “appropriating” Wagner’s merits.
“They constantly try to steal victory from Wagner’s mercenaries and talk about the presence of someone who is not clear, just to belittle their merits,” he said.
Bakhmut’s Carnage
Tensions rose during the battle for the city of Bakhmut, also in Donetsk, the bloodiest and longest of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.
Prigozin blamed the Russian military command for the constant failures in the supply of ammunition and directly accused Shoigu and Gerasimov of “treason”.
He linked the lack of ammunition to Wagner’s heavy casualties and stated that Shoigu and Gerasimov deliberately refused to equip this formation and that they would answer for it to the mothers and wives of the deceased combatants.
It was one of the most notorious videos of Wagner’s boss, as in it he yelled at the two military commanders, insulted them and showed behind him numerous corpses of alleged mercenaries killed in combat due to a shortage of ammunition, according to what he said in his attack.
The exposed flanks
As the Wagnerites increased their control over Bakhmut, Prigozhin called for Defense support to cover the mercenaries’ flanks against strong Ukrainian counter-attacks to the west and south of the city.
The Russian Defense Ministry sent regular troops for this purpose after receiving an ultimatum from the businessman, but they failed to hold all the territories previously captured by Wagner in the vicinity of the town, which, once again, provoked Prigozin’s ire.
Given this, Wagner’s boss threatened to abandon his positions at the beginning of May, when the paramilitary group practically controlled almost the entire city, but he agreed to continue after pressure from the Ministry of Defense.
Departure of Bakhmut and Ukrainian counteroffensive
After the capture of Bakhmut at the end of May, Prigozhin announced the gradual departure of Wanger from the city and his transfer to the rear to regain strength.
During this process, he denounced that the Ministry of Defense had mined the route and captured a Russian soldier allegedly responsible for the events.
Already in the rear, he maintained his criticism of the military command, which he accused of failing to contain the attacks of the Ukrainian Army and losing more than one hundred square kilometers and blamed the Ministry of Defense for the high number of casualties.
Refusal to sign a contract with Defense
Another of the disagreements was due to Prigozhin’s refusal to allow the mercenaries to sign a contract with Defense to subordinate themselves to Shoigu, as the minister decided in early June, even after Putin insisted on this procedure.
The head of the paramilitary group indicated that his troops “would not walk the path of shame.”
He asked Shoigu angrily and ironically if the 20,000 mercenaries who died in Bakhmut alone had to sign a contract.
This same Friday, Prigozhin accused the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of having retreated in the Ukrainian regions of Jerson and Zaporiyia and of misleading the Russian president about the real situation on the front.
He particularly attacked Shoigu, whom he described as a “trembling grandfather” who would have to be tried for the death of “tens of thousands of young people.”
Rebellion
A few hours after these statements, Prigozhin accused the Russian Army of bombing a private military company camp and promised to punish the culprits.
Wagner’s forces crossed the Russian border at dawn and took the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, after which columns of this formation left for Moscow to “deal with” those who “annihilate” Russian soldiers.
He said that “more than 100,000 Russian soldiers” had fallen in combat due to the lack of leadership of Shoigu and Gerasimov.
The Russian president described the Wagner uprising as treason and affirmed that those responsible will pay for it.
But late yesterday, the Kremlin announced that the head of the mercenary group “will go to Belarus”, commenting on the details of the agreement with the man who led an armed rebellion against the Russian military leadership for the last 24 hours. .
Prigozhin announced hours ago the return of his fighters to permanent bases to “avoid bloodshed” in Russia.