Prigozhin intends to reduce the work of the PMC to the war with Ukraine

The founder of the so-called PMC “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin plans to turn the activities of his mercenaries into a war with Ukraine and focus again on Africa. This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to informed sources.

Interlocutors of the agency said that high-ranking Russian military and politicians see Prigozhin as a growing threat. Now the founder of the PMC is faced with a shortage of ammunition in the combat zone on the territory of Ukraine and a shortage of people after he was allegedly forbidden to recruit prisoners in Russian colonies.

According to Bloomberg sources, against the backdrop of the Bakhmut siege, Russian military commanders raised doubts about the combat effectiveness of the PMC “Wagner” to President Vladimir Putin.

Bloomberg notes that there is no evidence that Prigozhin’s mercenaries are being transferred to Africa. At the same time, the publication mentions an announcement about the recruitment of people to the PMC – for six months for the war with Ukraine, and for 9-14 months – in Africa.

The agency does not report where exactly the messages were published. RFE/RL managed to find them in Russian social networks.

Prigozhin rejected the agency’s message in response. “I don’t know what Bloomberg is reporting, but apparently they know better than I do what we will do next. While we are needed for our country, we are fighting on the territory of Ukraine,” says the press service of the PMC founder. Wagner”.

• PMC “Wagner” is a Russian unofficial military unit whose fighters have taken part or are taking part in military operations in Syria, Africa and Ukraine. The head of PMC “Wagner” is entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin, known for his friendship with President Vladimir Putin and the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov.
• Russian legislation prohibits the activities of private military companies. The authorities officially call the fighters of PMC “Wagner” volunteers. To participate in the war against Ukraine, the PMC recruited, according to estimates, tens of thousands of prisoners from Russian colonies. Amendments came into force last week, extending criminal liability for so-called discrediting and fakes and to negative publications about “volunteers”.
• According to the Russian Service of the BBC, “Mediazon” and a team of volunteers who keep a count of the dead based on open sources, since the beginning of the year, at least one thousand prisoners who were supposed to serve their sentences in Russian colonies have died in the war on the territory of Ukraine.