Russia's Civil War Among Military Leadership is Fueling Battlefield Woes

Infighting among Russia's military leadership is fueling setbacks on the battlefield, as leaders continue to criticize how President Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine is being handled, experts say.

In recent weeks, Putin's longtime allies including Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, and Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Russian mercenary outfit, the Wagner Group, dubbed "Putin's Chef," have publicly criticized Russia's defense ministry and its head, Sergei Shoigu.

They appear to be siding with each other in rare displays of dissent, suggesting that rifts and a potential power struggle may be emerging inside the Kremlin.

Mercenaries from Prigozhin's Wagner Group are reportedly supporting Russian troops in efforts to capture Bakhmut, a strategic town in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine.

Jaroslava Barbieri, doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham, told Newsweek that Prigozhin likely has "ulterior motives" in pouring troops into the region.

"He sees it as an opportunity to undermine Shoigu further and show the Kremlin the combat value of the Wagner Group while regular Russian military units continue to lose ground in other combat zones," Barbieri said.

She added that Shoigu recently fired a deputy defense minister who had reportedly facilitated lucrative contracts for the Wagner Group. "So this is in part a personal vendetta, too," she said.

Prigozhin and Kadyrov have vilified Shoigu for a series of disastrous defeats that have left Russian forces in retreat, Barbieri added, referring to counteroffensives by Ukraine that have seen troops recapture swathes of territory in the south and northeast.

The continued attacks in Bakhmut also come amid anticipated gains by Ukraine in the Kherson region.

According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. defense and foreign affairs think tank, Prigozhin is sponsoring the formation of a volunteer battalion recruited by Russian war criminal Igor Girkin, a former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer.

The ISW assessed this week that the military group could "pose a threat to Putin's rule."

"Prigozhin continues to accrue power and is setting up a military structure parallel to the Russian Armed Forces, which may come to pose a threat to Putin's rule—at least within the information space," ISW analysts wrote.

Prigozhin is effectively building a "constituency" of supporters and his own fighting force that are not under the direct control of the Russian military or the Ministry of Defense, the think tank said.

The assessment notes that Prigozhin holds a uniquely advantageous position within the Russian state structure and information space that allows him to expand his constituency in the country more readily than the higher military command.

Prigozhin can freely promote himself and his forces while criticizing Kremlin officials or the Russian Armed Force without fear of push back, experts said.

At the same time, Kadyrov appears to be siding with the Russian business tycoon in his criticism of the defense ministry.

In a post on his Telegram channel on Thursday, Kadyrov once again launched an attack on Russia's military leadership—this time, he sharply criticized the commander of the Central Military District, Colonel-General Alexander Lapin.

Kadyrov mentioned Prigozhin in the post, calling him "dear brother" and "a born warrior." He posted that "it is necessary to pay close attention to the assessment of such people, listen, draw conclusions.

"They know for sure what is right and wrong in war," Kadyrov wrote. "As [Prigozhin] correctly noted, tactical and personnel changes are needed. Now, not tomorrow."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign and defense ministries for comment.