Discord Leak Exposes Growing Tension Between Wagner Group and Russian Military Leadership
A recent leak of U.S. Intelligence documents by Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira to a private Discord chat server has exposed a growing rift between Yevgeniy Prigozhin, Russian oligarch and founder of the Kremlin-backed Wagner mercenary group, and Russian military leaders.
Wagner mercenary group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin speaks in a video filmed in front of dozens of corpses, allegedly of Wagner fighters killed in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, published on May 5, 2023. (Photo: Telegram)
The discord has reportedly led Prigozhin to appeal directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin for intervention.
As casualties involving the Wagner mercenary group in Ukraine continue to rise, Prigozhin, also known as Putin's "chef" and the financier of Wagner, is threatening to withdraw his forces from the strategically important city of Bakhmut.
U.S. estimates suggest that Wagner's strategy of deploying waves of fighters drawn from prison populations and inadequately trained for combat has accounted for over half of the Russian losses since December 2022.
In the past, Prigozhin has made numerous allegations against the Russian Defense Ministry, ranging from disputing victories of regular Russian forces to the current claim that Wagner's losses have been exacerbated by a lack of ammunition.
In Bakhmut, Prigozhin asserts that his mercenaries have faced intense Ukrainian machine gun and artillery fire, resulting in devastating losses.
Bakhmut has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance and is also a tactical hotspot due to its central location near vital highways and access points. The capture and control of these points could put other key Ukrainian cities at risk.
Russian officials have consistently denied links to the Wagner Group. However, Wagner and other Prigozhin-owned entities are known for distributing disinformation and conducting covert psychological and armed operations.
Wagner associates are believed to be operating both overtly and covertly in Mali, the Central African Republic, Libya, Syria, and Ukraine.