The leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed that the Russian army attacked his forces, and thus, he began a mutiny against Russia. The demand for justice by Yevgeny Prigozhin resulted in an armed insurrection.
The Wagner Group controlled important military facilities in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. Even after all this, reportedly, Yevgeny Prigozhin is walking away to Belarus, thus escaping the repercussions.
Ever since the war between Russia and Ukraine started, the Wagner Group and the Russian Military have had tensed relations, which include the exchange of defamatory statements and hostile actions between the two groups.
The insurrection is significantly an outcome of the Wagner Group's and the Russian army's deployment in Ukraine.
Just after the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the relations between the Russian army and the Wagner Group collapsed. However, prior to this breakdown, the Wagner Group supported, in an unofficial manner, Russian state interests.
In some regions where Russia held strong interest but wished to limit its direct involvement, such as Sudan and Syria the Wagner Group offered plausible deniability to the Russian Government.
Russia had been confident at the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war that it will be getting a fast military victory. However, it faces setbacks from the very beginning. This led Russia to deploy the Wagner Group to aid its operations directly.
The deployment of the Wagner Group aided stabilize the operations of Russia in Ukraine.
In the year 2022, in contrast with the Russian army, the Wagner Group seemed to be a supremely trained force. Not to miss, many of the early victories of Russia were actually greatly supported by the Wagner Group, like the Battle of Sievierodonetsk.
However, it would be wrong to say that these victories did not cost anything to Russia and the Wagner Group. Massive casualties had been suffered by the Wagner Group, so much so, that the Group was unable to stick to its traditional tactics. The situation became so intense that mass recruitment was initiated by the Wagner Group from the prisons of Russia as well in order to replenish the exhausted forces.
All these efforts led to the two organizations holding separate spheres of influence to now being conventional forces. In simple terms, the two groups now had their domains of power overlapped.
The Russian President's Impact
It is said that only the president of Russia holds the capacity to arbitrate issues between his subordinates. The very power limits the capacity of the subordinates to create power bases that may challenge him. Plus, it also re-strengthens the Russian President's significance in the political system.
This very impact of Putin in the political system is greatly impactful during peacetime if the aim of the President is to sustain his power and influence. However, this may not be true in times of conflict, as overlapping functions cannot prove to be a liability.
ALSO READ: Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group?
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