Prigozhin denies Kremlin's claims that Russia is fighting NATO in Ukraine - ISW

This was reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Analysts say that the founder of the Wagner PMC has softened his rhetoric towards the Russian Ministry of Defense likely out of fear of completely losing his mercenary force in Bakhmut.

He also "denied the Kremlin’s claims that Russia is fighting NATO in Ukraine and questioned whether there are actually Nazis in Ukraine as the Kremlin constantly claims."

"Prigozhin stated that Russia is fighting “exclusively with Ukrainians” who are equipped with NATO-provided equipment and some “russophobic” mercenaries who voluntarily support Ukraine - but not NATO itself," the experts emphasize.

He also emphasized that Russian officials most likely knew that NATO would offer Ukraine military aid, because “it is ridiculous to think that when Russia decided to conduct this special military operation it did not account for NATO’s help to Ukraine.”

"Prigozhin noted that he is unsure about the “denazification” objectives in Ukraine, because he does not know if there are “Nazis” in Ukraine. Prigozhin also noted that Russia will ”demilitarize” Ukraine only when all of the Ukrainian military is destroyed, claiming that this effort is ongoing, but that it is unclear if it will be successful," the Institute reports.

According to the Wagner financier, Russia can avoid a grueling, prolonged war by deciding now which borders it wants to seize.

As experts explain, Prigozhin's remarks "effectively rejected the Kremlin’s pre-war and post-war claims that Russia needed to defend itself against a NATO threat in Ukraine and undermined the necessity and probability of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stated maximalist objectives for this invasion."

• On January 20, Politico found out that Wagner's PMC was expanding its mining projects in the Central African Republic, where it earns millions of dollars. 

• Subsequently, Bloomberg wrote that Yevgeny Prygozhyn may reduce the presence of his mercenaries in the war against Ukraine and focus on activities in Africa.