Putin's Disgruntled Troops Intensify Battle Between Key Allies

A private army utilized by Russian President Vladimir Putin for combat in Ukraine has become involved in a public feud with Russia's official military leaders and the country's state-controlled media.

Members of the Wagner Group, a network of Russian mercenaries that has been linked to Putin, recently released a video in which they can be heard demanding more weapons while using expletives to refer to General Valery Gerasimov, Russia's Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

"We have nothing to fight with, we have no rounds. The guys are dying for us there...We are fighting against the entire Ukrainian army near Bakhmut. Where are you? It's about time you help us," said one of the Wagner fighters in the video that's been shared on social media.

Controversy around the video became more pronounced after Yevgeny Prigozhin—a Russian oligarch who controls the Wagner group—dismissed reports from Russian media that the men in the video were Ukrainians disguised as Wagner members.

"There are no [Ukrainian] nationalists in that notorious video," Prigozhin said in a message posted on the Telegram channel of his Concord Management and Consulting company, according to The Daily Beast.

"The guys asked me to pass along, that when you're sitting in a warm office, it's hard to hear the problems on the frontline. But when you're dragging the dead bodies of your friends every day, and seeing them for the last time, then supplies are very much needed. And you want everyone to stir and at least in some way to think about how it is for those on the frontline," Prigozhin reportedly said.

He added, "As for the problems that are unfortunately surfacing at every step...we will solve them, and force them to be solved."

According to a report published earlier this month by The Middle East Institute (MEI), Prigozhin frequently butts heads with Russian defense officials and the General Staff.

"Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is a common target for Prigozhin, whose resentment toward the defense minister dates back to 2014, when Shoigu dismissed his deputy minister, who had been giving Prigozhin lucrative defense contracts," the MEI wrote.

As a sign of the growing influence of the Wagner Group, the White House last week said the organization had bought weapons from North Korea for use in Ukraine, which Prigozhin later denied.

"We can confirm that North Korea has completed an initial arms delivery to Wagner, which paid for that equipment. Last month, North Korea delivered infantry rockets and missiles into Russia for use by Wagner," John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, told reporters on Thursday.

"Everyone knows that North Korea has not been supplying any weapons to Russia for a long time. And no such efforts have even been made," Prigozhin said in a statement, according to Reuters.

He added, "Therefore, the supply of weapons from North Korea is nothing but gossip and speculation."

Newsweek reached out to the Russian foreign ministry for comment.