A Russian general said he had been dismissed as a commander after telling the military leadership about the dire situation at the front in Ukraine, where he said Russia’s soldiers had been stabbed in the back by the failings of the top military brass. The incident marked the most open infighting between Russia’s top military leaders since the armed rebellion by Wagner mercenaries. It also came as a significant blow to the Kremlin’s attempts to use a military-led strategy to win the war against Ukraine.
The general, whose name was not disclosed, said he had complained to the leadership that his force was starving for ammunition at the Ukrainian front near Rostov-on-Don and was being hamstrung by Moscow’s incompetence. He then accused the leadership of “betrayal” in a Telegram video distributed by the mercenary group. The Kremlin spokesman declined to comment on the matter, referring all questions to the defense ministry, which did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
But Prigozhin’s claims about what he called “betrayal” were in keeping with the themes he has raised over the past year as he battles with the military leadership to control his forces in Ukraine. The founder of the private mercenary force argued that the military bureaucracy was making it impossible for his 40,000 troops to move forward in the grinding and deadly battles around the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The mercenaries are a crucial element of the Russian military strategy in Ukraine, but their infighting damages the overall effort to defeat Kyiv.
Prigozhin’s accusations drew the attention of many in Russia because of his profile as one of Putin’s closest allies in the war. He was a significant fundraiser for the 2014 annexation of Crimea and helped organize the volunteer forces fighting in Ukraine. He has also worked with the Kremlin to gain access for foreign investors in the energy sector, including in a project for building an oil pipeline through the South Caucasus.
In the aftermath of the June 24 mutiny by Wagner mercenaries, the most significant domestic challenge to the Russian state in decades, President Vladimir Putin has so far kept Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov in their jobs. Both men have been criticized for the mutiny and how they responded. But the latest infighting between Shoigu and Gerasimov is any indication. In that case, they may not be facing significant consequences for failing to stop the mutiny or preventing it from growing out of control. Neither leader has been seen on the battlefield for weeks, despite a claim by the defense ministry that Gerasimov is still giving orders from the field. The ministry later released a video showing him in uniform overseeing airstrikes at a base in Ukraine. But the video was filmed earlier, and the military has not referred any further questions to the ministry.
