Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the infamous private Russian mercenary group Wagner, whose fighters are fighting in Ukraine, has opened fire in recent days not on Ukrainian enemies, but on the Russian military leadership itself.

The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner accused the Russian Defense Minister (Sergey Shoigu) and the country’s top general (Valery Gerasimov) of “betrayal”, aggravating the most high-profile internal Russian dispute that has surfaced since the start of the war. invasion of Ukraine.

Prigozhin raised the tone of the internal Russian standoff with a series of increasingly hostile audio messages he posted on social media. He accused the “Chief of the General Staff and Minister of Defense” of obstructing the delivery of ammunition and supplies to the Wagner fighters in an attempt to destroy them, which he claimed “could amount to treason”.

Western intelligence officials estimate that Wagner has about 40,000 fighters, including about 10,000 experienced mercenaries and another 30,000 people he “picked up” from Russian prisons.

Wagner forces have had military successes in eastern Ukraine in the past, squeezing the Russian cordon around the town of Bakhmut.

Also known as “Putin’s chef” because of his former role in the Kremlin, Prigozhin has been operating behind the scenes for years. However, recently, especially since the summer of 2022, she has begun to attract more and more attention to herself.

Prigozhin was not among the officials present at Putin’s speech in Moscow today, and Putin himself did not mention Wagner in his speech.

Analysts believe Prigozhin’s reaction may be because he feels he is losing the access he once had to the Russian president.

According to the New York Times