‘Asymmetric’ online threat to Putin – ISW reports that Russian financier Wagner Group, and related social media are increasingly critical of Russian military and social issues in Russia, which “may indirectly undermine Kremlin dominance” ».
The once unshakable chair finally “creaks”. Vladimir Putinby his favored one Yevgeny Prigozhin?
The Russian president’s hold on power could be at risk due to the financier of the notorious Russian mercenary group Wagner criticizing the Russian military’s performance in Ukraine, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
In its latest report, the Institute for the Study of War says the Russian financier of the Wagner Group – once called “Putin’s chef” because of his businesses hosting dinners attended by the Russian president – and associated social media accounts networking, are increasingly critical of Russian military and social issues in Russia, which “may indirectly undermine the Kremlin’s dominance.”
Critical accounts of the war by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, the financier behind the Wagner Group, could “undermine” the image of power of Putin, explains the ISW report published on Monday night. Prigozhin, long considered one of Putin’s strongest allies, earlier this month praised Chechen leader Ramzhan Kadyrov’s proposal that a top Russian general be sent to the front lines of the war and forced to “wash away his shame with blood”. . Prigozhin suggested that “all these bastards” leading the army should be forced to follow him.
While Prigozhin did not attack Putin directly, negative assessments of the military’s poor performance by him, and other members of the Russian elite, have led some to speculate that efforts to oust the Russian president could be in the works. .
Monday’s ISW report notes that social media linked to Prigozhin and the Wagner Group “increasingly comment on the ineffectiveness of traditional Russian military institutions and social issues, which may indirectly undermine the Kremlin’s dominance.”
“Asymmetrical” cyber threat to Putin
ISW analysts focused on a video posted on social media on October 13 in which soldiers from the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s 126th Coastal Defense Brigade at an unspecified location in the Kherson region complain that they have been fighting in that area since the beginning of the war without interruption or the necessary rotation of troops for rest.
Russian soldiers claim that crushed by Ukrainian forces, and that they only have one armored personnel carrier for 80 people, which severely limits them operationally.
After the video went viral on Oct. 14, a message appeared on Wagner’s Telegram channel saying Wagner’s leadership “decided to transfer four off-road capable vehicles to the 126th Coastal Defense Battalion to support their efforts to hold the first line in the region of Kherson”.
“The transfer of essential equipment to a contingent of conventional Russian ground forces may be a veiled criticism of the Defense Ministry’s apparent inability to provide basic necessities to its own soldiers,” ISW analysts said.
It is noted that in the Russian “Game of Thrones” the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu he is believed to be politically weakened after the failures of the Russian army, while Ukrainian media reports that his ouster is only a matter of time.
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