Prigozhin's star begins to set after failed attempts to seize Bakhmut - ISW

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported this. 

According to the analysts, “Yevgeny Prigozhin’s star has begun to set.” Russian President Vladimir Putin had likely turned to Prigozhin and Army General Sergey Surovikin to gain ground and break the will of Ukraine and its Western backers to continue the war. 

“Both efforts failed, as Prigozhin’s attempts to seize Bakhmut culminated and Surovikin’s air campaign accomplished little more than inflicting suffering on Ukrainian civilians while expending most of Russia’s remaining stocks of precision missiles,” the report says. 

During this period, Prigozhin seems to have decided that he has enough authority to challenge Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for military supremacy. But now these hopes seem futile, analysts say. Now Putin has again focused on the regular army.