Former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev has joined the private military company Wagner as deputy commander, Reuters reports.
In two videos posted by military correspondent Alexander Simonov on Telegram, Mizintsev – dressed in combat gear with the Wagner logo – was shown visiting a training camp and touring Russian positions in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
The footage coincided with the release of two video statements by Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, who furiously renewed his repeated accusations that Russia’s Defense Ministry was depriving his forces of ammunition out of jealousy of their success.
Although Prigozhin regularly accused senior military personnel, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, of incompetence, he also heaped praise on individual commanders.
On April 29, Prigozhin’s press office announced that he had offered the post to Mizintsev – a day after his dismissal from the Ministry of Defense was announced.
Mizintsev, who organized the siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in the early months of the war last year, was appointed deputy defense minister in charge of logistics and supplies only in September last year.
“Grey Zone” – a channel in “Telegram” connected to “Wagner”, reported that Mizintsev became “not the first and obviously not the last general who is out of place among the bureaucracy and sycophants.”
In June, the European Union imposed sanctions on Mizintsev, calling him the “Butcher of Mariupol” for his role in the siege that devastated the city.
2023-05-05 19:15:00
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