Wagner’s boss positions himself as Putin’s successor

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There has been speculation in the past that Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin (61) could succeed Russian President Vladimir Putin (70). An interview that the Wagner boss recently gave to state television and news agencies in Russia would fuel these rumors. This is reported by the American think tank “Institute for the Study of War” (ISW).

The think tank describes the appearance of “Putin’s cook” as unique and is convinced: Prigozhin could position himself as the successor to the Kremlin boss and present himself as a presidential candidate for the Russian elections in 2024.

Prigozhin contradicts the Kremlin’s claims

Unlike his previous appearances, the Wagner boss was not photographed on the battlefield, but at a large table. According to the ISW’s analysis, Prigozhin’s portrayal of himself is very reminiscent of the behavior of Kremlin chief Putin.

Chance? Hardly, the ISW suspects. The think tank sees two possible reasons for Prigozhin’s unique appearance: “Either to mock Putin, or to subtly suggest that Prigozhin, like Putin, could become the Russian president.”

The Wagner boss also used his appearance to undermine Putin’s credibility. He contradicted the Kremlin’s claim that Russia was fighting NATO in Ukraine and even questioned whether there really were any Nazis in Ukraine. Putin has always justified Russia’s invasion of the neighboring country with the “denazification of Ukraine”.

Wagner boss complained again about missing ammunition

In the interview, the Wagner boss also urged to criticize again the lack of ammunition on the battlefield. Prigozhin has been drawing attention to bottlenecks for months and has already blamed the Russian military leadership for the deaths of Wagner fighters because they didn’t have enough ammunition.

At the beginning of March there were already indications that the Wagner boss could have targeted Putin’s position. Prigozhin announced that he would run for the post of President of Ukraine in 2024. According to the ISW, this indicated that he wanted to divert attention from his real political ambitions in Russia.

One thing is clear: there has been a crisis between Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin (61) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (70) for some time. It remains to be seen if that will be enough to fire the Kremlin boss. (dzc)

Source: Blick