Ukraine spy chief explains how Prigozhin’s conflict with Shoigu linked to Moscow’s obsession with taking Bakhmut

The director of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency Kyrylo Budanov told about it in an interview with the New York Times.

According to Budanov, the political ambitions of the leader of Russian mercenary Wagner Group have dictated strategy on the Russian side. The group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, deployed all units possible to capture the city of Bakhmut. Prigozhin needs to show that his mercenaries can do what the Russian army could not, Budanov explained.

Budanov also said that a Russian general appointed in September as commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, Sergei Surovikin, has aligned with Prigozhin in a rivalry with the Russian Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu.

“There is only an ideological and media question here,” he said of the fierce assault on Bakhmut. “That is a reason Wagner units are trying so fanatically to capture this town. They need to show they are a force, and they can do what the Russian army could not. We see that clearly and understand,” the director of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said.

Budanov noted that while capturing Bakhmut is not considered strategically important, it would improve Russia’s position in the east by opening roads to other Donbas cities still under Ukrainian control.