The head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, seems to have refused the offer of the founder of PMK "Wagner"

Yevgeny Prigozhin

to join a new information campaign against the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Analysts of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) write about this.

ISW points out that on February 17, Kadyrov emphasized that Chechen formations will follow the orders of any commander appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that Chechen combat officers have an excellent, well-coordinated relationship with the Ministry of Defense.

Kadyrov's approval of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation took place after Prigozhin's attempt to secure Kadyrov's support by publicly visiting the wounded commander of the special forces "Akhmat" on February 16.

At the same time, Prigozhin probably renewed his information campaign against the Russian Ministry of Defense, declaring on February 18 that the "Wagner" PMC is not subordinate to the Ministry of Defense and "has nothing to do with the Russian army."

In October 2022, Prigozhin used Kadyrov's criticism of the Russian military to undermine the Ministry of Defense and strengthen the Wagner PMC.

However, this time, as noted in ISW, Kadyrov did not respond to Prigozhin's offer, as he considers a position in the Russian government more profitable than political relations with the founder of PMK "Wagner".

According to analysts, currently Prigozhin is also trying to attract the support of ultra-nationalist figures in the Kremlin and military bloggers.

It will be recalled that in January, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that the Russian

military command

prepared recommendations for Kremlin propagandists regarding the coverage of the war against Ukraine, where they are called to refrain from mentioning the "Wagner" PMC in a positive context. 

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