Wagner Chief Prigozhin Calls for Kremlin Support Amid Soldier Exodus

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the financier of the Wagner Group of mercenaries fighting in Ukraine, has appealed to Moscow for help ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive and as a British assessment says he faces an impending exodus of troops.

A letter published on Prigozhin's Telegram channel outlines Prigozhin's concerns to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about what might happen in the coming weeks in the battle for Bakhmut.

In the missive dated March 20, Prigozhin claimed that his units controlled 70 percent of the Donetsk town and were continuing their offensive "for its complete liberation."

But he said that information points to a move "in late March, early April," by Ukrainian forces which will try to deliver strikes "to cut off Wagner units from the main forces of the Russian armed forces."

"I ask you to take all necessary measures to prevent the cutting off of the Wagner troops from the main forces of Russia's army, which will lead to negative consequences for the special military operation," he wrote, using Moscow's term for its full-scale invasion.

In sharing the letter, news aggregator NOEL tweeted that Prigozhin seemed to be "calling desperately for help, even leaking his own letter to Shoigu to the public in the hope of speeding up the process."

It comes as British defense officials said convicts Wagner recruited, with the promise that their jail sentences would be expunged, will be pardoned and released in the coming weeks.

Wagner prisoner recruitment peaked last fall after inmates had been offered commutation of their sentences after six months of service. Prigozhin has said that Wagner is no longer taking recruits from Russian prisons.

"Although approximately half of the prisoners recruited have likely been killed or wounded, evidence from Russia suggests the group is following through on its promise to free survivors," the British Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has endorsed the issuance of certificates to freed Wagner veterans, the update added. Newsweek has emailed the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

Despite moves by some Russian officials to distance themselves from Prigozhin, the businessman still enjoys political leverage in Russia, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

However, the U.S. think tank said on Monday that Russian authorities are not sure how to redefine Wagner's new role "following Prigozhin's overextension of Wagner resources and support."

Prigozhin has repeatedly complained of shell hunger and pleaded with the Russian Defense Ministry to give his troops the ammunition they need, amid huge losses.

But the destruction of Wagner forces near Bakhmut "is likely forcing Prigozhin and Russian officials to reconsider the role of Wagner while Prigozhin works to rebuild his forces," the ISW added.

Sean McFate, a U.S. Army veteran and author of The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order, has spoken with some Wagner fighters.

He recently told Newsweek they should be bribed to leave Ukraine because they "have no political motivation for the Russian cause." He said there was tension within Wagner between the "old guard" of professional soldiers, and new recruits drawn from prisons who have been seen as cannon fodder.

"I would not say they were elite but the old guard were relatively good and now there are criminals out of jails," he said. "That has created a schism within Wagner of basically 'what is our brand?'"

"Most of the old guard have sought to remain in places like Mali, or in Africa, away from the Ukraine fight, because the guys I talked to before the invasion were not supportive of the invasion," said McFate, adjunct professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

"They've been trying to get away from it. They've been sucked back into Ukraine because Prigozhin needs his talent there."