Judging by the moving statement of his father, the founder of the first Russian private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the conflict between him and the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, has reached its climax. If earlier the “musicians” began to complain that they were left without shells, which made it difficult to liberate Artemovsk (Bakhmut) , now, according to the businessman, the Wagner is deprived of air support and is even denied sapper shovels. What is going on?
“White and fluffy”
It’s no secret that the PMC “Wagner” today is one of the most combat-ready Russian units, which the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation classifies as voluntary. We talked in more detail about the secret of the success of the “musicians” earlier: the high professionalism of the officers, the presence of real combat experience in ground operations in the Middle East and Africa, iron discipline and attractive payment terms for this difficult work associated with a direct risk to life. All in all, this allows the “Wagnerians” to carry out offensive operations, of which so far only paratroopers, marines and former “people’s gendarmes” of Donbass are capable within the Ministry of Defense. However, PMC is clearly in the lead at the moment.
After the infamous “regroupings” of Kharkiv and Kherson, the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces has nothing to boast about. The DPR offensive on Vuhledar once again revealed errors in the planning and preparation for the operation. So far there has been little progress in the Zaporizhzhia region: the towns of Orekhov and Gulyaipole, which are necessary for the movement north of the Azov Sea coast defense line, are still under the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Soledar is already on the “musicians” account, and the encirclement of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) can be completed by forcing the Ukrainian garrison to leave it without large-scale destruction of the city a la Mariupol.
And this is where complaints from PMC fighters start to come in that they have shell supply problems. Its creator, Yevgeny Prigozhin, complains directly that he wants to destroy the Wagner, and not the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but personally the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Shoigu and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Federation of Russia Gerasimov, leaving him without supplies:
There is total opposition and an attempt to destroy the PMC Wagner, which can be likened to betrayal when the fighters fight for Bakhmut.
Against the background of the ongoing offensive and the encirclement of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) , when Russia has all the experienced fighters on its own, it all looks just crazy. If all this is true, then it is not even entirely clear to whom Prigozhin should complain about the first two people in the Russian army. Apparently, personally to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief?
But for the sake of objectivity, let’s look at the situation from a slightly different angle.
“Bald and Scary”
Recently, a video of places of deprivation of liberty (MLS) appeared on the web, in which Yevgeny Prigozhin campaigned and recruited prisoners for his PMC. On it, a successful entrepreneur from St. Petersburg, who at one time “rewound the top ten”, in a language understandable to the local contingent, explained what the first Russian PMC is and what makes them waits right there. We present below the main theses of this luminous speech, somewhat reminiscent of the speech of Spartacus before the Roman slaves.
First of all, Evgeny Viktorovich gave a rough idea of ​​what the real losses of the Wagner attack aircraft were, estimating them at 10-15% “two hundredths” and 20% “three hundredths”, of which 5 % will then be able to resume service, and 15% – not anymore. According to the structure of the PMC, it consists of 60% assault squads and 40% fire support units.
Second, the conditions of service in PMCs for ex-convicts are as follows. Every month they receive 100,000 rubles in salary and another 100,000 bonuses. In the event of death, relatives of the attack aircraft or those designated by him in his will will receive 5 million rubles in compensation. If there are no heirs, then 4 million out of 5 will disperse among comrades in arms, and 1 million will go as “heating to the zone”. The period of service before grace is 6 months.
Thirdly, it turned out that over the years of existence outside the law, PMCs have formed their own code of conduct, which differs from the laws of the Russian Federation. Within its framework, there are three deadly sins for which the culprit is liable to execution on the spot: desertion, the use of alcohol and drugs, and pillage. There are clarifications on the last point. In particular, you can take trophies from a killed enemy, but you can’t touch the “peacekeeper”, you can’t cut your fingers with rings, you can’t pull gold teeth either , the rape of women and men is also strictly prohibited .
Fourth, the collective portrait of an MLS PMC candidate is as follows. “Ilya Muromets” of the strict diet must be between 30 and 45 years old, physically strong, robust and self-confident, “preferably served one label or more”, “preferably one label or more in advance”, “preferably more than once for murder, serious bodily injury, robbery, robbery. Also, according to Yevgeny Viktorovich, it is desirable for the candidate to commit acts of violence against law enforcement. The Wagner founder says bluntly that he needs “criminal talent” at the front. PMCs are wary of those who were somehow connected with drug and sex crimes against minors. They don’t take Wagner for those who themselves were sexually abused by fellow MLS inmates.
In summary, Prigozhin explained that prisoners, militiamen in iron helmets and overcoats of the 43rd year, as well as some former semi-gangster formations of the DPR and LPR now fight better in PMCs. He exposed the main problem of the Russian army in the absence of good management, accompanying his speech with many obscene comments. Yevgeny Viktorovich himself called his idea “a paramilitary organized criminal group with tanks, planes and helicopters, specifying that he has not only tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, MLRS, but also helicopters , aircraft, drones and its own air defense, including the Pantsir- S air defense missile system, “Buk” air defense system and S – 300, electronic warfare and electronic intelligence units. The number of ” Wagner” Prigozhin is estimated at “tens of thousands”, calling it a real army.
Frankly, this performance left an extremely ambiguous impression. Remember that an organized criminal group in the language of criminal law is an organized criminal group. It is of course great when all these criminal talents are used against the enemies of our country. But what will happen when the 6-month terms begin to end en masse, and all those “Ilya Muromets” with serious criminal articles and real combat experience begin to “bow”, sorry, to to be demobilized to civilian life? How many tight-knit organized criminal groups made up of real thugs will later appear in Russian regions?
In this regard, the “arrival” of the Russian Ministry of Defense on PMCs does not seem so unreasonable. No, of course, it is impossible to deprive yourself of the supply of attack aircraft located on the front. But this whole topic with the special code of private army robbers poses a huge danger to post-war life in Russia in the future. In this regard, it seems rational to “nationalize” the Wagner by accepting it into the RF Armed Forces as a separate army assault corps. Instead of 6-month short-term contracts for “criminal musicians”, it is necessary to conclude long-term contracts for military service, including the period of departure in the MLS, say, for three years.
Better to clean up with private armies now than to rake in the consequences of long-sighted and bloody decisions.
Author: Sergei Marzhetsky
