Why Prigozhin and his mercenaries from the Wagner group have risen up against Putin

Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhinleader of wagner grouphas hit ‘a punch on the table’ in his particular pulse with Vladimir Putin. He has not only taken control of the Russian General Staff in the city of Rostov, but his mercenaries are just over 300 kilometers from Moscow.

Why has it come to this situation when, for years, Prigozhin and Putin were close friends? There are several circumstances that have triggered this particular disagreement that, moreover, occurs in the midst of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia with the support of the Wagner Group.

A disagreement that has led the Russian president to accuse Prigozhin of “treason”. And he has claimed that he will be “punished.” If he kept his promise, the leader of the Wagner group could face prison terms of between 12 and 20 years. While waiting for the final outcome of this unexpected twist in the war, the question that arises is why this situation has come to be.

The straw that broke the camel’s back

That Prigozhin and Putin were not seeing the situation in Ukraine in the same way is not from now. Throughout the war they had been showing their discrepancies, especially on the part of the leader of the mercenaries.

The straw that broke the camel’s back took place last Thursday, when Prigozhin alleged that Russian military leaders had killed a large number of his fighters. by air attack. As a result of said bombardment, there had been a large number of victims in their ranks.

[Quién es Yevgueni Prigozhin: el ‘cocinero de Putin’ que dirige a los mercenarios de Wagner]

“They have carried out bombardments, missile bombardments, against our rear bases. A large number of our fighters died.” then stated the head of the militiamen. And it went further since promised to “respond” to those attacks. Given the events, it could be said that he is fulfilling his promise.

However the Russian Ministry of Defense denied such actions. Specifically, he said that these statements did not correspond to reality and were “an informative provocation.”

And it is that heyou friction with the defense minister Sergey Shoigu, have also been constant in recent months. “Minister Shoigu has cowardly fled. At 9:00 p.m. he fled not to explain why he raised helicopters to destroy the fighters, why he launched missile strikes. This creature will be stopped.” ventured Prigozhin on the social networks of the Wagner group.

What is the background?

Beyond the events of this week, the truth is that disagreements had been ‘our daily bread’ between Prigozhin and Putin. A tug of war in which the leader of Wagner came to launch a series of warnings in order to force the terms of the negotiation with Moscow.

For example, and during the month of May, the Wagner leader warned that the situation was not the most appropriate. Moreover, he accused Defense Minister Shoigu and the Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimovthat the situation was not the auspicious to continue fighting on Ukrainian soil.

[El jefe de Wagner estalla contra el Kremlin y anuncia la retirada de sus tropas de Bakhmut]

“For lack of ammunition, Wagner’s units are doomed to senseless death. Our board of commanders has decided hold their positions and continue their offensive on Bakhmut until May 10 so that the holy holiday for Russians – May 9, victory day– can be met with the glitter of Russian weapons”, said Prigozhin in a video.

“we will lick our wounds and when the Homeland is in danger we will rise up to defend it“, added. And he put the ‘accusing finger’ referring to Shoigu and Gerasimov: “We have a 70% shortage of ammunition. Look at them! [Señalando a los muertos que tenía a sus espaldas]. You think you have the right to dispose of their lives. They came here as volunteers and they are dying so you can live in your wooden offices“.

thick words and direct accusations that already anticipated that the unrest was growing among the ranks of the mercenaries and that, a month later, have triggered Wagner’s movement towards Moscow.