In the coming days, we will see what may represent the beginning of a war between Russia’s elite, and possibly the end of Vladimir Putin’s long-standing regime.
On Friday evening, the unthinkable happened when Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, and his privately owned Wagner military company, changed their course from advancing Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine to taking a complete turn and actively occupying the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, a clear sign of dissenting from Putin’s agenda. Is the loyalty of Putin’s oligarchs slipping, ending Putin’s reign?
The Wagner Group is a private military company headed by mercenary tycoon Prigozhin. The group is active across four continents as hired private security for foreign regime heads, in exchange for financial returns. This most often comes in the form of natural resources, such as profit percentages from oil fields and gold mines.
They are considered an unofficial state arm handling Putin’s dirty work and his agenda in foreign affairs around the globe. However, the well-trained mercenary company was requested to help support Putin in the war in Ukraine. Having already helped out in Crimea in 2014, Prigozhin agreed and prepared his seasoned private company to assist in Ukraine out of loyalty to Putin in early 2022.
In May 2023, the Wagner Group was tasked with capturing the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine – a strategically important city that lies on the road to the city of Slovyansk. After suffering heavy casualties and being allegedly unable to fully capture the Ukrainian stronghold, Prigozhin surprisingly withdrew his forces – his first military act of infidelity against Putin.
