Analysts treat Prigozhin's rebellion as result of conflict with Shoigu, head of MoD

The armed rebellion of the "Wagner" Private Military Company (PMC) was the result of the extremely aggravated conflict of Evgeny Prigozhin, the head thereof, with Sergey Shoigu, the head of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD). Prigozhin's actions were spontaneous, but expected, analysts have commented on the rebellion.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 23, Evgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the "Wagner" PMC, accused the MoD of shelling the PMC's rear positions and promised to "sort things out." Later, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) appeared in Rostov-on-Don; and Prigozhin himself, accompanied by his armed fighters, entered the territory of the General Staff of the Southern Military District, where he voiced threats to MoD's officials. Prigozhin had planned to reach Moscow, but already in the evening he announced that he was stopping his campaign and deploying his columns back to field camps, after which "Wagner" PMC fighters began leaving Rostov-on-Don.

During Prigozhin's rebellion, an explosion occurred at the headquarters of the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don; and the "Rostelecom" building was also shelled.

The opinion that Prigozhin's rebellion was prompted by his personal conflict with Shoigu is shared by Vadim Kozyulin, a military expert and Professor at the Academy of Military Sciences. According to his estimate, Prigozhin's actions were spontaneous and emotional.

Evgeny Prigozhin acted rashly and quite spontaneously, Andrei Koshkin, an expert of the Association of Military Political Scientists, has agreed, however, suggesting that some of the PMC fighters were misled.

Vitaly Arkov, a political analyst, believes that the Russian society have reacted rather calmly to these events.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Chechen "Akhmat" detachment was the first volunteer unit to sign a contract with the Russian MoD. This happened amid Ramzan Kadyrov's and his people's squabble with Prigozhin.