Either forces loyal to Putin, Shoigu, Gerasimov will eliminate Prigozhin, or Mizintsev, Surovikin will take over the military - Piontkovsky

Washington-based political scientist Andrey Piontkovsky said this on Espreso TV. 

“In Russia, it is not ratings that will decide the processes that will unfold in the coming days or weeks, but the security forces. The group behind Prigozhin is already taking practical action and wants to change the leadership of the Russian Defense Ministry. Prigozhin has already voiced his demands: General Mizintsev should become Minister of Defense and General Surovikin should become Chief of the General Staff. They need this control not to manage hundreds of thousands of mobilized people, to transport them from one frontline to another. They need control of the Defense Ministry for two structures: the GRU and the Special Operations Forces. They want to take control of these structures in order to take power and keep it in post-war Russia,” Piontkovsky explained.

According to the political analyst, the events of the coming days will determine whose orders the head of the Russian Defense Ministry's special forces will carry out. The orders of Defense Minister Shoigu or the orders of Colonel General Mizintsev, whom Prigozhin is demanding to be appointed.

“The Russian special forces may obey Shoigu's orders, but I can firmly say that one of these groups will be defeated in the near future. Either the special operations forces loyal to Putin, Shoigu and Gerasimov will eliminate Prigozhin, or Mizintsev and Surovikin will take over the structures. And this group will lead the way to something that is favorable for the Ukrainian side, for the international community, to Russia's surrender,” Piontkovsky added.

• Relations between Yevgeny Prigozhin and Russia's top military leadership have long been tense. On February 21, it became known that he had repeatedly complained about the lack of adequate ammunition supplies to his militants, publicly criticized and quarreled with officials of the Russian Defense Ministry, including its head, Sergei Shoigu. Recently, the founder of the Wagner PMC stated that he and other high-ranking Wagner soldiers were completely disconnected from the Russian government communication line and had all passes to Russian ministries blocked.

• On May 25, the founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced the start of the withdrawal of units from Bakhmut. By June 1, the positions will be handed over to the Russian Defense Ministry.

• The founder of the Russian Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that the escape routes from Bakhmut for his fighters were mined by representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry.