The Kremlin is allegedly trying, through the Russian state energy company Gazprom, to create a new armed formation under the control of the Russian government, declared as a volunteer unit. According to a recent analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), citing a Russian military blogger, the company would offer double the salary of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group.

“It is possible that the Kremlin is trying to create a new armed formation controlled by the Russian government, presented as a volunteer unit, through the Russian state energy company Gazprom,” writes ISW, as quoted by News.ro.

A well-known Russian military blogger claims that Gazprom Nafto, a subsidiary of Gazprom, is forming a volunteer unit modeled after the Reserve Units of the Russian Army (BARS).

The BARS program provides the Russian army with reservists. Those who sign contracts under the program receive permanent cash assistance while keeping their jobs. During the year, reservists can be called up for training (up to one month), where they can participate in training and other types of instruction.

A Russian military blogger initially claimed that Gazprom Neft was forming a private military company (PMC) and was actively deploying (unspecified) elements in the occupied Donetsk region, but later corrected that the formation of Gazprom Neft was a volunteer unit, not a unit. A PVC-type company, like Prigozhin’s.

The recruitment campaign launched by Gazprom Nafta has attracted interest in Donetsk, the blogger also notes, given that the company offers a salary of 400,000 rubles (approximately $5,260) per month and additional bonuses based on performance.

The blogger claims that this salary is twice as much as that offered by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenary company “Wagner Group”. The blogger notes that a volunteer at the Gazprom Nafta unit can earn — including bonuses — up to 600,000 rubles (about $7,890) per month.

Gazprom will compete with Prigozhin Wagner’s group of mercenaries

It is possible that “Gazprom Nafta” will try to compete with “Wagner” for conscripts from the Donetsk region, given that “Wagner” also conducts its own recruitment in the region, ISV writes.

The Institute for the Study of War reminds that on February 6, the Russian government allowed Gazprom Nafta to create a private security organization (not the PMC) to protect the Russian energy infrastructure.

The Ukrainian special services, for their part, noted the creation of the private security company Gazprom Nafta and assessed it as an attempt by the Kremlin to marginalize the financier of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin and reduce the Kremlin’s dependence on his forces. .

In fact, another Russian military blogger rhetorically asked when the Russian Defense Ministry would become “jealous” of Gazprom Nafta’s new army and cut off its access to ammunition, referring to the current conflict between the Russian army and Prigozhin, ISW notes in its analysis. from March 8.

Wagner’s boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, admitted in February 2023 that his mercenary group was facing difficulties in Ukraine and would soon “decrease” in size amid mounting evidence that its political influence in the Kremlin was waning.

“The number of PMK “Wagner” will decrease, and we will also not be able to perform the amount of tasks that we would like,” Prigozhin told a group of pro-war bloggers and journalists of the station.

The businessman did not explain why he stopped recruiting at the prison, but observers say the move is part of a growing backlash against him by Russian intelligence services.

The influence of the head of the “Wagner” PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin would decrease, this would also be the reason why he would purchase weapons from North Korea, reports independent researcher Chris Owen with reference to the Russian Cheka-OGPU Telegram channel.