Shortly after his eviction
“Butchers of Mariupol” joins Wagner
5/5/2023, 5:17 p.m
A few months after his appointment, Mikhail Mizintsev has to vacate his post as Russian Deputy Foreign Minister. War bloggers cite power struggles as the reason. Now Mizintsev joins Wagner boss Prigozhin, who repeatedly criticizes Moscow’s military leadership.
The former Russian deputy defense minister, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, has apparently been appointed deputy commander of the Wagner mercenary group. Several Russian military bloggers report this unanimously.
In two videos posted to Telegram by war blogger Alexander Simonov, Mizintsev can be seen in Wagnerian gear visiting a training camp and inspecting Russian positions in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. As early as April 29, the press service of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin announced that they wanted to take over Mizintsev. Shortly before, the colonel general had been dismissed as deputy defense minister.
Mizintsev, who organized the siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in the first months of the war, had only been appointed deputy defense minister with responsibility for logistics and supplies in September. In total, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has twelve deputies. Last June, the European Union imposed sanctions on Mitsintsev, also known as the “Butcher of Mariupol”. Russian war bloggers cited power struggles within the military as the reason for his expulsion.
Conflicts between the army and Wagner chief Prigozhin have been openly apparent for months. Prigozhin repeatedly accuses the military leadership in Moscow, and thus also indirectly Shoigu, of incompetence and blames them for the alleged ammunition problems of his fighters. He has since announced that he will withdraw his mercenaries from the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on May 10.
Experts see more of a PR campaign behind the announcement. According to the analyst Alexander Dubovy, Prigozhin is knitting one Type “stab legend”. Moscow’s military planners would be to blame if Russia “stole victory.” In this way, Prigozhin wanted to gain points in the nationalist camp and establish himself as their leading figure.