Monday, January 23, 2023

Wagner financier Prigozhin launches campaign aimed at portraying himself anti-corruption crusader

Sun, January 22, 2023 

Evgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Peskov

On Jan. 21, Prigozhin’s personal press service distributed a letter from a family of a fallen Wagner mercenary, which mentioned “indifferent” local officials who did not help with their son’s funeral, as opposed to Prigozhin, who listens to their appeals.

Read also: Wagner’s Prigozhin using success in Soledar to bolster his group’s reputation, says ISW

In the letter, Prigozhin is referred to as “the only person (…) who is not indifferent to the fate of the Defender of Russia and his family.”

Prigozhin also harshly criticized the officials of Russia’s Sverdlovsk Oblast, apparently showing solidarity with the “common man.”

Read also: Prigozhin boasts of his impunity after brutal murder of Wagner mercenary

“Prigozhin claimed on Jan. 20 that he would not mind if someone brought a criminal case against him because he would be able to participate in Wagner PMC from prison,” ISW analysts wrote.

“Wagner Group continues to operate militia training centers in Kursk and Belgorod oblasts in a likely effort to provide military support for regions that the Russian MoD supposedly neglects to defend, although neither faces any risk against which Wagner Group could defend."

Read also: Former Wagner mercenary who fled to Norway to tell about war crimes of Wagner Group

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, HUR, previously reported that Prigozhin, is looking to strengthen his influence in the circle of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin at any cost, and is a driving impetus behind the desperate Russian attempts to seize the towns of Soledar and Bakhmut.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine

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