Moscow
\nA top Russian propagandist on Sunday accused the Wagner boss of \u201cgoing off the rails\u201d after receiving billions in public funds, as Moscow\u2019s new narrative takes shape after Wagner\u2019s brief mutiny.
\nLast weekend the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, led his forces in a short-lived rebellion against Russia\u2019s top military brass, in a huge embarrassment for the Kremlin.
\n\u201cPrigozhin has gone off the rails because of big money,\u201d Dmitry Kiselev, one of the main faces of the Russian propaganda machine, said on his weekly television show on Sunday.
\n\u201cHe thought that he can challenge the defense ministry, the state itself and the president personally.\u201d
\nKisilev said that Wagner\u2019s operations in Syria and Africa had given Prigozhin a feeling of impunity that was later reinforced by his rag-tag forces\u2019 battlefield successes in eastern Ukraine.
\nWithout providing any evidence, Kisilev said Wagner had received more than 858 billion rubles ($9.7 billion) in state funds.
\nIn a stunning admission earlier this week, President Vladimir Putin said for the first time that Russian authorities \u201cfully\u201d financed the paramilitary outfit.
\nBetween May 2022 and May 2023, Wagner received more than 86 billion rubles from the Russian state, Putin said.
\nPrivate mercenary groups are banned under Russian law.
\nTargeted by sanctions from Washington and Brussels, Prigozhin had for years operated in the shadows but has catapulted into the limelight since Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
\nIn profanity-laced diatribes, he accused the Russian military of attempting to \u201csteal\u201d victories from Wagner in eastern Ukraine and slammed Moscow\u2019s \u201cmonstrous bureaucracy\u201d for slowing military gains.
\nPrigozhin was allowed to recruit fighters from prisons and in March, Russian lawmakers approved legislation introducing lengthy prison terms for those who criticise \u201cvolunteer groups\u201d such as the Wagner.
\nMany political observers saw Prigozhin\u2019s attempt at insurrection as a sign that Putin\u2019s grip on power is weakening.
\nMoscow officials and propagandists insist, however, that Russians have rallied around Putin.
\nOn Sunday, Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia\u2019s lower house of parliament, wrote that Putin emerged out of \u201cthis very difficult situation\u201d even stronger.
\n\u201cHe did everything to prevent bloodshed,\u201d Volodin wrote on messaging app Telegram.
\n\u201cIf there had been people like Putin at the helm of the state in 1917 and 1991, there would have been no revolution and no collapse of the USSR.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Moscow A top Russian propagandist on Sunday accused the Wagner boss of \u201cgoing off the rails\u201d after receiving billions in public funds, as Moscow\u2019s new narrative takes shape after Wagner\u2019s brief mutiny. Last weekend the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, led his forces in a short-lived rebellion against Russia\u2019s top military brass, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341099,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-341069","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n