Russia Using Bakhmut to Purge Wagner Group? How Kremlin May Be Trying to Clip Prigozhin’s Wings

The Wagner mercenary group’s long running feud with the Russian military has “likely reached its climax“ in Bakhmut. The Institute for the Study of War says tensions between Russia’s defence ministry and the Wagner group have likely reached a “boiling point”. Some Ukrainian soldiers say they are holding positions in Bakhmut waiting for Russians to “shoot each other”. The US think tank says the Russian MoD is trying to “deliberately expend both elite and convict Wagner forces” in the assault on Bakhmut. The ISW says Prigozhin likely “overestimated Putin’s reliance on Wagner forces” and attempted to replace Russian military “with Wagner-affiliated figures” #russia #russiaukrainewar #ukraine #putin #usa 0:00 - Introduction 0:39 - Conflict Between Wagner Boss & Russian Mod “Reaches Climax”? 2:05 - Kremlin’s Tactics to Curb Prigozhin’s Leverage? 3:41 - Prigozhin Misread Putin’s Reliance on Wagner PMC? 4:35 - Prigozhin’s New Ambitions a “Diversion” or Threat to Puti