Plans to replace Putin as president with military warlord hinting at challenge
A military warlord has hinted at plans to replace Vladimir Putin, experts have said.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group and a prominent figure since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, conducted an interview with Russian reporters - which has now been published by his own Federal New Agency.
Analysts for the US thinktank Institute for the Study of War said the interview was "noteworthy for its unique format" and that "Prigozhin seemed to mimic the way that Vladimir Putin films his choreographed public meetings, either to mock Putin quietly or to suggest subtly that Prigozhin could become Russian president like Putin".
"The choreography and staging of Prigozhin's interview places Prigozhin in the camera's frame at Prigozhin's desk across from his audience in the same way that Putin's filmed meetings and photo ops usually do," the analysis added.
"This film style is unusual for Prigozhin, as Prigozhin's public video statements typically do not employ such a sterile format."
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Wagner Group head Prigozhin is a warlord (Uncredited/AP/REX/Shutterstock)It was thought the Wagner Group boss could "seek to parody Putin's cinematography style as part of a larger trolling campaign to attack the Kremlin or draw tacit parallels between Prigozhin and the office of the Russian presidency".
"Prigozhin's recent behaviour — regardless of its intent — is advancing a narrative among Russian society that Prigozhin has larger political aspirations in Russia," the analysis concluded.
The interview and subsequent analysis comes after it emerged Kremlin-linked war brute Prigozhin has sent a truckload of champagne to Ukrainian women to mark International Women’s Day.
Prigozhin was seen in a video mockingly signing one case before it was loaded onto a lorry in footage released by his personal press service on the Telegram messaging app.
Prigozhin has become a prominent figure since Russia's invasion of Ukraine (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)The post boasts that Bakhmut is on the brink of being seized by Russian forces and that Ukrainian hopes of retaking the area and wine factory are increasingly slim.
Wagner captured the Bakhmut Champagne Winery and Siniat enterprise, in the eastern part of the city, in December.
Ahead of International Women's Day tomorrow, the caption of the video says that the "goodwill gesture" will mean Ukranian women are not "without a gift for the holiday".
The post read: "Yevgeny Prigozhin sent a truckload of champagne from a sparkling wine factory located near Bakhmut for Ukrainian women on March 8.
"Earlier, Ukrainian servicemen have repeatedly said that after they squeeze out the Wagner Group from Bakhmut, they will drink champagne from a local factory for a victory.
"But something went wrong, the Orchestra is moving forward, and the ArtWinery plant is getting farther and farther from the Ukrainian military, so Yevgeny Prigozhin made a goodwill gesture and did not leave Ukrainian women without a gift for the holiday."
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has committed to defending Bakhmut and said he had held a meeting with senior generals and commanders in which it was resolved that there was “no part of Ukraine” that “can be abandoned”.
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