Focus: When going to Mr. Putin, the founder of Wagner is a hero or a hostage |

LONDON (Reuters) – At the end of the Soviet Union, 61-year-old Evgeny Prigozhin spent a miserable life in prison for theft. Now, as the founder of Russia’s most powerful mercenary group, he is trying to get even closer to show his military achievements in Ukraine and gain more “favor” from President Putin.

Soldiers from the private military company Wagner, which is led by Prigozhin, said they had captured Soledar, the northeastern suburb of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, where fierce fighting had continued. His intention is to take advantage of this military success.

According to Prigogine, the battle for Soledar was fought by Wagner alone. However, the Russian Ministry of Defense initially claimed that the regular army was operational. The Ministry of Defense officially announced the capture of Soledal on the 13th and explained that air units, missiles and regular army artillery contributed to the victory.

Mr Prigogine accused the government of not giving Wagner the credit he deserved. “They are constantly trying to steal victories from Wagner, and they talk about the existence of another unnamed group just to discredit Wagner,” he said.

Since then the Ministry of Defense has issued a new statement to “clarify” the situation. He said part of Soledar’s invasion force included “brave and self-sacrificing” Wagner fighters.

Some commentators predict that Prigozhin could one day become Russia’s defense minister as he rises to prominence. However, as Mr Putin tends to use the political method of “divide and rule” by keeping his aides in check with each other, it is difficult to know how much influence Mr Prigozhin has over Mr Putin. .

Mr. Putin’s most powerful supporters, some of whom have direct ties to Mr. Putin, say Mr. Prigozhin is performing excellently compared to the moderate results of the usual army.

Russia’s former presidential adviser, Sergei Markov, who has hailed Prigozhin as a “new hero,” said: “Prigozhin has his faults, but I don’t want to mention them because Prigozhin and Wagner are now the main critics of Russia. They are a symbol of victory because that they are national treasures,” he wrote on his blog, suggesting that the government should allocate more resources to Wagner.

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of state-run media RT and a close associate of the president, also thanked Prigozin for stopping Soledar.

Abbas Galiamov, a former presidential writer, said on his blog that Prigozhin was acting in anticipation of Putin’s dismissal of Defense Minister Shoigu.

Mr Putin has said that although Wagner does not represent the state, he is not breaking Russian law and has the right to operate anywhere in the world and promote his business interests.

But one military blogger who has been involved in shaping Russian opinion on the war in Ukraine compared Prigozhin to a Roman “hundred” commander who was given the right to act outside the law.

He added that Wagner’s successes had led to the hope that Prigozin, now at the level of online voting, would become defense minister.

But Mr Prigogine cares nothing for the lives of Wagner fighters, says a former Federal Security Service (FSS) officer. The official said that there was no military significance in securing the Soledar and Bakhmut areas.

“In short, Prigozhin is a private businessman who is very dependent on his close ties to the authorities, which is a very delicate position,” said Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of R. Politic, a political analyst firm.

The Russian government has allowed Mr Prigozhin to recruit thousands of prisoners to join Wagner’s fighters. US officials put the number at around 50,000. Wagner is also authorized to transport tanks, military aircraft and missile defense systems.

In his relationship with the regular army, Mr Prigozhin has occasionally criticized the highest echelons of the army with disrespectful words and actions, but some Western military experts believe that, despite these superficial conflicts, behind to the scenes, it is believed that Mr Wagner and the usual army have a close connection.

However, some Western military experts believe that the appointment of a senior military officer to control the war in Ukraine is aimed at curbing Mr Prigozhin’s influence.

Leonid Nevzlin, a former executive with failed Russian oil giant Yukos, warned that Wagner could actually slip out of government control.

A person close to Russian officials said the president’s office saw Mr Prigozhin as a “useful hostage” but had “security measures” in place to keep leaders of such military groups from getting out of control.

(Reporter Andrew Osborn)