“A manipulation”: the Kremlin on Monday denied any tension between the Russian army and the paramilitary group Wagner, whose forces appear to be increasingly in competition in Ukraine.
“This conflict only exists in the information space,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Russia “must and know how to recognize its heroes. It recognizes heroes who serve in the armed forces […] and those who come from the paramilitary group Wagner,” he added. “All are fighting for their country. »
The divisions between the Russian army and the Wagner group, noted by many observers, came to light last week during the battle for the small town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine.
The leader of the Wagner Group, businessman Yevgeny Prigojine, has repeatedly claimed that only his men are fighting the Ukrainian forces in this city.
And when Mr. Prigozhin claimed responsibility for taking Soledar on Wednesday, he was quickly contradicted by the Russian Defense Ministry, which itself announced the capture of the city two days later, which kyiv denied.
In the process, Mr. Prigojine published a message in which he attacked, without naming them, “those who constantly seek to steal our victories”.
Rarely, the Russian Ministry of Defense then published a press release praising the “courage” of Wagner’s men at Soledar.
This saga has been widely covered and commented on by Russian military bloggers, including those who support the offensive against Ukraine, many of whom are critical of the way the operation is being carried out.
Reports of the tensions between the army and Wagner are “the product of manipulations of information, which are sometimes done by our adversaries and sometimes by our own friends who act in such a way that we do not need enemy,” said Mr. Peskov, in a veiled criticism of these bloggers.
The Wagner Group, founded in 2014, has recruited thousands of inmates to fight in Ukraine in exchange for sentence reductions. Formerly discreet, Mr. Prigojine has established himself as a major player in the conflict in Ukraine.