The head of the “Wagner” mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, accused the Russian military of trying to “steal the victory” in Soledar.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mocked the infighting between the Russian Defense Ministry and the Wagner mercenary group over who should take credit for the effort to capture the city of Soledar, saying it showed “a clear sign of the enemy’s failure”.
In a late-night video address on Friday, Zelensky said fighting for Soledar and other eastern Ukrainian towns continued despite competing claims by Wagner and the Russian government that their forces had taken control of the salt-mining town.
The fall of Soledar would mark Russia’s first significant battlefield gain after months of military retreats and setbacks against Ukrainian forces, although military analysts and the United States have downplayed the strategic importance of the city, which has seen some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. so away.
“The tough battle for Donetsk region continues. The battle continues for Bakhmut and Soledar, for Kremina, for other towns and villages in the eastern part of our country,” Zelensky said in his address.
“Although the enemy has concentrated its greatest forces in this direction, our troops – the Armed Forces of Ukraine, all defense and security forces – are defending the country,” he said.
Zelensky then turned to the clash between the Russian Ministry of Defense and Wagner’s mercenaries.
“They are already fighting each other over who should be credited with any tactical progress,” he said.
“This is a clear signal of enemy failure. And this is another incentive for all of us to put more pressure on the occupier and inflict greater losses on the enemy.”
Russia’s defense ministry said its forces captured Soledar on Thursday evening, allowing them to potentially cut off Ukrainian supply routes to the town of Bakhmut, southwest of Soledar, and trap remaining Ukrainian forces there.
In its statement, the ministry attributed the capture of the city to Russian troops and aviation, without mentioning the role of the Wagner group.
Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has been highly critical of the failures of the Russian regular army, made a premature claim earlier this week that Soledar had fallen. He also maintained that the fighting there was done exclusively by his men.
In comments apparently aimed at Russia’s defense ministry, Prigozhin complained on Friday of “infighting, corruption, bureaucracy and officials who want to stay in their positions” as well as what he called constant attempts to “steal victory” by Wagner.
In response, the Russian Defense Ministry late on Friday issued a second statement that sought to “clarify” the situation and acknowledged the role of Wagner group fighters in Soledar.
“As for the direct assault on the Soledar neighborhoods occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, this combat task was successfully accomplished through the brave and selfless actions of the volunteers of the Wagner assault units,” the Defense Ministry said.
News bulletin Kyiv Independent noted that the competition for credit between Russian forces has not gone unnoticed in Ukraine, with Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser in the presidential office, saying on Twitter that the “public clamor” about “who fights better” in Soledar was “a good sign of the start of the stunning end”.
A public tussle has begun between 🇷🇺 Fake News Agency (MO) and Military Criminal Ultras (Prigozhin/Zolotov/Surovikin) about who is fighting better in the 11th month of the 3-day war and who will sow the most Soledar with his corpses. A good sign for the start of the stunning ending!
— Mykhailo Podolyak (@Podolyak_M) January 13, 2023
Russia has allowed Prigozhin to recruit tens of thousands of his prisoners for Wagner, which US officials say is 50,000 strong, and has allowed him to equip them with tanks, planes and anti-missile defense systems.
According to Reuters, the Kremlin has also stood by as Wagner’s boss lobbed sometimes scathing criticism at Russia’s top leadership, although some Western military analysts suggest the recent appointment of Russia’s most senior general to lead the war in Ukraine is designed to balance the position Prigogine’s influence.
Despite sometimes publicly strained ties with the Russian defense ministry, some Western military analysts suspect that Wagner is closely related.
A source close to Russian officials, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, told Reuters that the Kremlin viewed Prigogine as a useful operator but maintained unspecified safeguards about his growing power.
“There is a cap (on growth) and mechanisms in place,” said the source, who declined to elaborate.
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