ISW spoke about the possible intrigue of Prigozhin and Kadyrov against the Russian Defense Ministry

Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov probably aim to portray the Russian Defense Ministry and regular Russian troops as ineffective and set conditions to blame the Defense Ministry for any failures of Russia in the area of ​​Bakhmut. This is stated in the report of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) for Saturday, May 7th.

It turns out that Prigozhin’s decision to transfer responsibility for Bakhmut to the forces of his fellow security officers deliberately excluded the conventional Russian airborne troops (VDV) already operating on the northern and southern flanks of Wagner around of Bakhmut, making the battle for Bakhmut Wagnerian.

Analysts say the decision reflects Prigozhin’s continued distrust of the Russian military command, positioning himself as independent of the Russian military establishment. It would also allow him to save face if Wagner’s troops failed to capture Bakhmut and avoid a repeat of the capture of Soledar, for which the Russian Defense Ministry took credit for Prigozhin’s claim of the victory of the “Wagnerites “.

Kadyrov, in turn, could get a positive reputational impact from participating in such a high-profile operation with the support of Prigozhin’s personal popularity. Kadyrov recently met with several high-ranking Russian officials in Russia, likely to improve his reputation in Russian political circles.

The alienation of Akhmat’s troops could also set the stage for blaming the Russian Defense Ministry for future setbacks – should the troops experience similar difficulties as Wagner’s and fail to fully capture the Bakhmut.

Prigozhin and Kadyrov can also blame the Defense Ministry for failing to fulfill their efforts. On the other hand, if the Russian MoD is preventing Akhmat’s forces from replacing the “Wagnerites” (because it is not clear whether Prigozhin and Kadyrov can do this maneuver without the support of the Russian MoD, as they claim), the two officers of security and their allies will likely demonstrate hypothetically that if only the Russian Ministry of Defense had supported the maneuver, Chechen forces would have quickly captured Bakhmut.

Remember, on the eve of the founder of the Russian PMC Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced the departure of “Wagnerites” from Bakhmut. After that, the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, announced his readiness to replace the “Wagnerites” among his fighters.