Russia: the very symbolic handover from Wagner to the regular army in Bakhmut

The boss of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin. AP

Text by: Anissa El Jabri Follow

2 min

It is this Thursday, May 25, announcement of Yevgeny Prigozhin, that Wagner's men must pass the baton to the regular army in Bakhmut. The capture of the city was hailed by Russian state media but remains for now unverifiable from an independent source.

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From our correspondent in Moscow,

The announcement of the capture of the city in the official Russian media space reflects -obviously- what seems to be a political compromise settled in every detail: Yevgeny Prigozhin announces the fall of Bakhmut, nothing on federal channels. The Ministry of Defense, several hours later, makes an official statement, the images arrive. Prigozhine's men are still often modestly referred to as "assault troops", even though they appear on screens with their recognizable skull patch.

Above all, like President Vladimir Putin, the Perviy Kanal channel did name Wagner for the first time. The reporter also showed the face of the mercenary commander who placed the Russian flag in the center of the city and specified his code name: "Ratibor".

A scenario obviously well worked upstream to avoid a "Soledar effect". The conquest of this small town in Donbass had already given rise last autumn to acrimonious exchanges between Yevgeny Prigozhin and the defense.

Yevgeny Prigozhin will lose a platform

Will Prigozhin's men leave only Bakhmut, Artëmovsk for the Russians (who have taken over the Soviet name), or all of Donbass to be redeployed on other grounds?

Will Yevgeny Prigozhin continue to insult the elites and especially those of the defense on average every 48 hours? In any case, with the announced withdrawal of his troops, the founder of the "orchestra" - another name for Wagner - will lose a platform.

He also remains the only one who can afford this language in Russia. In Moscow, a man who was circulating this weekend with this message on the rear window of his car "Shoigu, s***, where are the shells?", is prosecuted for discrediting the army: 50,000 rubles fine – a little more than 600 euros at the current rate – were demanded against him.

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