Is Putin planning to NEUTRALIZE the Wagner mercenary group and its leader? Dark allegations emerge that Yevgeny Prigozhin exposed the Kremlin conspiracy

Wagnerian warlord Vevgeny Prigozhin claims he was warned of a plot led by Vladimir Putin to undermine and “neutralize” the dreaded Russian mercenary group.

Prigozhin claimed to have received a series of questions from the Russian newspaper Nezivisimaya Gazeta, which appeared to reveal the plot to “neutralize” Wagner, and especially the warlord.

Nikolai Patrushev, the head of Russia’s Security Council, reportedly told Putin that he believed that after the war in Ukraine, Prigozhin would try to unite his mercenaries and send them to Russia to “seize power in the regions bordering Ukraine.” possibly moving inland. .

Patrushev reportedly said at the meeting that he had already ordered Russian troops to watch Wagner mercenaries and monitor their movement for fear that they might rebel against Putin. A paranoid Putin would have thanked Patrushev for his efforts to neutralize “Wagner in general and Prigozhin in particular”.

However, experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) cast doubt on Prigozhin’s claim that he received media inquiries that exposed the plot, saying there was no evidence that talks between Putin and Patrushev took place.

Instead, the experts argue that Prigozhin hatched the alleged conspiracy in a bizarre attempt to defame the Russian military establishment and “create meticulous information conditions to blame Patrushev for Wagner’s failures and possible suppression of the group.”

Ukrainian soldiers from the 80th Paratroopers Brigade fire a mortar shell on a front line near Bakhmut on Thursday amid the Russian attack on Ukraine in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

Since the start of Putin’s war in Ukraine, Prigozhin has publicly criticized the Russian military and military leadership – and his penchant for angering military leaders and anyone who stands in his way has angered some in the government who wants to stay in control.

READ MORE: Wagner recruits sent as suicide squads to be killed by Ukrainian troops – then flanked by Russian special forces – expert says

Now sinister allegations have emerged that Putin is conspiring to “neutralize” Wagner and Prigozhin—or so the warlord wants it to appear.

Prigozhin’s press office yesterday published a series of questions allegedly sent to the Wagner boss by the Nezivisimaya Gazeta newspaper about an alleged meeting between Putin and Patrushev – the details of which are believed to have circulated on Telegram.

The alleged press commentary claims that Patrushev told Putin that there would be “nothing left” of the Wagner group in “one and a half to two months” due to the massive casualties in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where the mercenaries fought against Ukrainian forces are fighting. . .

Patrushev is also said to have suggested that after Wagner’s destruction in the Ukraine, Prigozhin would try to unite the former and remaining active Wagner fighters under some far-fetched pretext and organize, arm, and send them out with the means at his disposal the territory of Ukraine. . Russia’s seizure of power in the regions bordering Ukraine was a possible domestic pressure.”

In response to the alleged press comments, Prigozhin released an audio clip in which he said he had not heard of the alleged conspiracy and said that Russian special services must work to neutralize threats to Russia, no matter where they come from .

However, ISW experts said there was no evidence that talks between Putin and Patrushev took place.

They also pointed out that Nezivisimaya Gazeta did not publish the press comments on its own website – and there is no record of the comments online, except in relation to Prigozhin’s post.

“The lack of external confirmations on the matter suggests that Prigozhin hatched the alleged conspiracy to promote various intelligence operations in the name of Wagner and his own reputation,” the experts said in their latest report.

Ukrainian soldiers of the 80th Brigade Paratroopers Brigade take cover as they fire a mortar shell on a front line near Bakhmut on Thursday amid the Russian attack on Ukraine in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

Nikolai Patrushev (pictured), the head of the Russian Security Council, reportedly told Putin that he believed that after the war in Ukraine, Prigozhin would try to unite his mercenaries and send them to Russia to seize power in the regions. .on the border with Ukraine before it possibly penetrates the interior

Wagner mercenaries in Popasna, Sievierodonetsk District of Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine

The ISW experts said the exchange clearly identifies Patrushev and possibly the Russian Security Council as “enemies” of Wagner.

“Prigozhin appears to be creating elaborate informational conditions to blame Patrushev for Wagner’s failures and possible crackdowns on the group, presenting a fabricated scenario in which Wagner poses a direct domestic threat to Russia,” the experts said.

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“These efforts appear to be the next evolution of Prigozhin’s campaign against the Russian military establishment, and Patrushev may become Prigozhin’s next target after his joint intelligence campaigns against the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Russian General Staff,” they added.

Prigozhin has become something of a headache for Putin and Russia’s defense chiefs since the war began.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he has stepped out of the shadows to assume a high profile. But his public profile, political influence and penchant for angering military leaders and anyone who stands in his way have angered some in government who want to keep him in check.

In fact, Prigozhin continued to ask Russia to provide him with more ammunition, reinforcements, and cover if he won the months-long war of attrition over Bakhmut.

In January, ISW experts claimed that Putin turned on Prigozhin after he “didn’t get the hint” and continued to boast that his forces were more successful than the Russian military.

And the Wagner boss risked angering the Russian president further by denouncing the Moscow generals as “a bunch of clowns”.

Prigozhin, with his everyday grandiosity and open braggadocio, is increasingly seen as a growing threat to the Kremlin leader.

In January, he claimed that his rags performed greater feats than Soviet soldiers during the Battle of Stalingrad, a major military turning point in World War II.

He also openly mocked General Valery Gerasimov – Russia’s commander-in-chief – who ordered Russian soldiers to shave their beards as part of a disciplinary measure in the armed forces.

Russia’s defense chiefs are “a bunch of clowns” who “want to glorify the military,” raged Prigozhin, a Soviet-era prisoner known for hosting banquets and running online troll factories for Putin.

“Women war correspondents go in the absolute heat of [war]’ said Prigozhin.

Prisoners fight better than guard units. Soldiers with broken spines surrender their military experience in boot camps and move like robots.

“And a bunch of clowns trying to teach weary fighters how often to shave — and what perfume to use to greet commanders in chief.”