The leader of the militants PMC "Wagner" Yevgeny Prigozhin is not Putin's creature, as some experts suggest. On the contrary, Prigogine is trying to start his own political career and seize power.

This opinion of Channel 24 was expressed by Andrei Piontkovsky, a Russian publicist and oppositionist living in the United States.

According to the expert, Prigozhin is precisely why he actively criticizes the Russian Ministry of Defense, headed by Shoigu, in order to show himself a "hero" for the so-called "Z-patriots", and at the expense of this electorate to start a political career.

As an example, Piontkovsky cited the "triumphant" tour of the head of "Wagner" in the cities of Russia, where Prigozhin promotes the message: "I am the head of the only combat-ready unit of the Russian army, which was destroyed by the traitors Shoigu and Gerasimov."

"With this message, he seems to urge: 'if we failed to defeat Ukrainians, then let's deal with traitors.' And by traitors, he understands not only Shoigu and Gerasimov, but Putin also reads between words," the Russian oppositionist said.

Piontkovsky does not agree with the opinion that Prigozhin is Putin's creature, and it is beneficial for the dictator to publicly fight against Shoigu and Gerasimov so that they do not carry out a military coup.

"He is not interested in Russian values and ideas of the "Russian world" – for him in the first place opportunities to strengthen his own power and influence and redistribute property in Russia, after the overthrow of the Putin era," concluded Andrei Piontkovsky.

Earlier, analysts at the American Institute for the Study of War wrote that Prigozhin undermines Putin's authority. In response, Putin began to destroy Prigozhin in the media.

According to terrorist and war criminal Strelkov-Girkin, Prigozhin has a "roof" among influential people in the Russian Federation, and may even try to carry out a coup d'état.

Political consultant Mikhail Sheitelman believes that Prigogine has ambitions to carry out a coup d'état.

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