Amid the Wagner Group‘s efforts to secure a victory for Russia in Ukraine, reports suggest that Vladimir Putin is becoming increasingly concerned about the growing political clout of the mercenary group’s chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
What Happened: Prigozhin, who recently made headlines for his role in the Russia-Ukraine War, is facing growing dissent from the Kremlin, which has advised state media to stop mentioning him or Wagner by name, reported Reuters.
Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser who remains close to the authorities, told the publication, “The position of the (Kremlin) political bloc is not to let him into politics. They are a little afraid of him and find him an inconvenient person."
Markov — describing Prigozhin as extremely confrontational — said he believed the Russian president had asked the Wagner chief to halt public criticism of the top brass and the defense ministry at a St Petersburg meeting around Jan. 14.
Prigozhin, last week, said he was stripped of the right to recruit convicts from prisons — a key pillar of his private military group.
“The domestic policy overseers don’t like his political demagogy, his attacks on official institutions, or his attempts to troll Putin’s staff by threatening to form a political party, which would be a headache for everyone in the Kremlin,” Tatiana Stanovaya, a veteran Kremlin scholar, wrote in a paper for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, according to the Reuters report. “He hasn’t just become a public figure — he is visibly transforming into a full-fledged politician with his own views.”
Prigozhin, on Friday, cleared his stance and told Russian media that he had “zero” political ambitions.
Check out more of Benzinga’s Europe and Asia coverage by following this link.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
