The Wagner Group denounced that Putin’s military forces fired on his mercenaries

The founder of the private mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin (Reuters) (PRESS SERVICE OF “CONCORD/)

The men of the Wagner Group captured a lieutenant colonel of the Russian army, who fired on his patrol during the retreat from Bakhmut.”He denounced the mercenaries’ press service on his Telegram channel.

The message was accompanied by pictures of the prisoner

Russian soldier captured by the Wagner group
The image that the Wagner Group released of the captured lieutenant colonel of the Russian army

It is not the first time that the paramilitary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin denounces that the official forces of Russia try to boycott the tasks of the mercenaries. For weeks he has publicly exposed an internal war that threatens to shake the Kremlin. Days ago, in fact, Prigozhin himself stated that Russian military planted explosives on the Wagner fighters’ retreat route from the town of Bakhmut.

Last Friday the head of the feared group confirmed that, after weeks of warning, his troops have finally withdrawn completely from the battlefield. After those statements, the mercenary attacked the Kremlinas he has been doing in recent weeks, and accused him of having placed explosive devices on the route taken by his officers for the withdrawal.

“We must bear in mind that, on the other side, surprises awaited us,” he ironized. “Not long before our departure, we detected some suspicious activity along the routes of our movement. Noticing these operations, we called the forces of order and began to inspect the ways of our withdrawal along the highway, ”he continued. It was then that, he assured, They found “about 10 places” with different devices ready to detonate such as “anti-tank mines to tons of plastic explosives and anti-mine charges.”

Faced with this episode, which Prigozhin claimed to have kept under control, the officers proceeded to document everything and save it as evidence that will be included in the investigation that is already underway.

“Those who planted these explosives were representatives of the Ministry of Defense. We assume that it was an attempt at public flogging, ”she accused, however, before awaiting the preliminary results of the investigation.

The Wagner Group’s complaints against Putin’s troops were after weeks of exchanges and exchanges between the high military commands that are carrying out the offensive in Ukraine. The leader of the mercenaries accuses Moscow of not providing him with enough weapons to be able to carry out his offensive successfully, which leaves his officers as “cannon fodder” and also blames the Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, for the repeated defeats on the battlefield.

Prigozhin also lashed out at Putin for having assigned the forces ofthe chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to replace his men at the front.

The deployment of Kadyrov’s troops, who are officially part of the national guard but report directly to him, could undermine Prigozhin’s position both on the battlefield and in Russian society in general, says Thomas Grove in an article in The Wall Street Journal. The journalist also writes that Moscow could be interested in intensifying the enmity between the two military.

“The Kremlin may also be trying to break off Kadyrov’s relationship with Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin, and re-emphasize federal authority over Chechen forces”, stated the Institute for the Study of War this week.

Kadyrov became leader of Chechnya in 2007. He calls himself a putin soldier, on whom it totally depends. He bets on the controversy with Prigozhin to try to win the president’s trust even more.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadýrov in Moscow, Russia, March 13, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS/File
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadýrov in Moscow, Russia, on March 13, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS/File (SPUTNIK/)

Since the beginning of the invasion, Putin has ordered Kadyrov to take control of kyivand it has even emerged that his main mission was to assassinate the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, Ukrainian intelligence and security officials allege. Likewise, the Chechen has sent thousands of soldiers to the front lines to commit heinous acts against the Ukrainian civilian population.

His troops – like those of the Wagner Group – have been accused of war crimes in Ukraine

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Source-www.infobae.com