Who owns Soledar? kyiv still denies the fall of the city, but in Russia, for three days, the paternity of what is presented as a victory gave rise to a battle of communication between the Wagner group and the army, before being settled, in end of the day, with an army press release resembling an olive branch, marking a new step towards the formalization of the company of mercenaries in Russia.
From our correspondent in Moscow,
” We constantly try to steal the victory from the members of Wagner (..) just to belittle our merits. Evgueni Prigojine, in his midday message on his Telegram channel, did not say who this “we” was, but everyone understood.
The Defense Ministry’s midday statement announcing a Russian victory did not mention the name of his group at all. The army spokesman also mentioned the role of airborne forces, which could only be those of a regular army, when the boss of the mercenary group had been repeating for days: ” My men are the only ones in combat. »
One ” heterogeneous grouping of troops »
The text at the end of the day finally evokes the conquest of Soledar as that of a ” heterogeneous grouping of troops “, whose ” direct assault on residential neighborhoods “was conducted” thanks to the courageous and selfless actions of the volunteers of the Wagner Assault Squads “.
Wagner quoted in an official press release from the Russian army is a first. The group made the opening of many television news in Russia, and there also it is a first. This entry into the homes of the whole country is made, for the group of mercenaries, with honors.
” The special operation » game changer
A day to mark with a milestone for the group, as its rivalry with the army had increased; so much so that not so long ago, in Russia, one did not even have to pronounce his name. ” The special operation as the Kremlin says, has finally changed the game.
One of Russia’s most famous propagandists recently spent two weeks in the combat zone with the group, and made it into a special. This Friday, a deputy from United Russia, General Gurulev, also judged: “ Wagner’s men who served in Ukraine have every right to become deputies. »
►Read again: War in Ukraine: more than confused situation around Soledar