Putin Fighting Wagner Group's Rise After Ally Claims War Success: ISW

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seemingly pushing back against the rise of the Wagner Group, a notorious paramilitary unit, according to a new report.

The latest assessment of the war in Ukraine by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) released on Thursday night said Putin may be making efforts to thwart the increasing power of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group who has long been characterized as a close ally of the Russian leader.

The U.S.-based think tank said recent actions by Putin suggest he may not be pleased with recent announcements by Prigozhin in which he claimed Wagner was behind recent battlefield gains for Russia.

"Putin is likely attempting to reduce Prigozhin's prominence in favor of the re-emerging professional Russian military and Russian government officials," the ISW wrote.

Prigozhin has verbally criticized the Russian Defense Ministry over his paramilitary unit's role in Ukraine, and has singled out defense head Sergei Shoigu in some of his attacks.

Earlier this month, Prigozhin said his forces were behind the capture of Soledar, a city in Ukraine's Donetsk region that was the site of fierce fighting between Russian forces and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's troops.

Meanwhile, Putin credited his defense ministry last week for the reported Russian success in Soledar. The Russian president also made no mention of Prigozhin or the Wagner Group. Prigozhin later responded, however, by saying the Kremlin and the defense ministry were not giving proper credit for Wagner's war efforts.

As a result of such tensions, the ISW said Putin "is increasingly siding with the adversaries of Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin, likely in an ongoing effort to degrade Prigozhin's influence in Russia."

The ISW also reported that Putin recently met with Saint Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov on Wednesday and discussed Beglov's volunteer battalions for the war in Ukraine. The think tank called Beglov "one of Prigozhin's overt enemies," and wrote the Wagner leader once waged a campaign to have the governor removed from office.

"Putin's demonstrative meeting with Beglov and their specific discussion of Beglov's contribution to the war effort directly challenges Prigozhin's ongoing effort to assert his own authority over Beglov and St. Petersburg," the ISW wrote.

The think tank further reported that Putin recently reappointed Colonel General Aleksandr Lapin as the Chief of Staff of the Russian Ground Forces. According to the ISW, Lapin is also a political foe of Prigozhin.

However, Prigozhin "continues to use claims about the Wagner Group's tactical success to elevate his position," the ISW said.

Newsweek reached out to the Kremlin for comment.