By KYIV. Jan 14 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The statements of the Russian military leadership about the alleged capture of the town of Soledar in Donetsk region caused a violent reaction in the Russian Federation due to the refusal of the Russian Defense Ministry to recognize the participation of the private military company (PMC) Wagner in this operation, according to a report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) for January 13.
“The Kremlin stated that there is an ongoing conflict between the Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) and Wagner group … Prigozhin and the Russian MoD are both equally attempting to undermine each other,” the report reads.
Earlier, leader of the Wagner PMC Yevgeniy Prigozhin personally visited Soledar, noted the daily successes of the Wagner fighters and accused bureaucrats and government officials of constant attempts to steal the victory from the Wagner PMC and belittle its achievements.
“Putin’s efforts to balance the at times mutually exclusive lines of effort of retaining Russian MoD support for his war, publicly distancing himself from military failures, and exploiting Prigozhin’s parallel military forces, may have ramifications on his power,” the ISW reports.
At the same time, analysts quote Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov, who said that the situation around Soledar is complicated and did not confirm the control of the occupiers over the city. The Ukrainian military reported that on the night of January 12-13, they continued fighting in Soledar. At the same time, the ISW noted that the situation in Soledar will not directly affect the situation around Bakhmut.
