Ramzan Kadyrov, an ally of President Vladimir Putin who runs Chechnya, said today that he plans to one day create his own private military organization.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the ally of President Vladimir Putin who runs Chechnya, said Sunday he plans to one day create his own private military company in the style of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group.
The rise of Wagner and other mercenary forces outside traditional Russian military command structures has raised concerns among Western diplomats that such groups could one day pose a threat to Russia’s stability.
In a post on Telegram, Kadyrov said that Wagner, which is fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, has achieved “impressive results” and that private military entities are a necessity.
“We can confidently say that Wagner has shown its military qualities and put an end to discussions about whether such private military companies are necessary or not,” said Kadyrov, who has led the Chechen Republic since 2007.
“When my service to the state is over, I seriously plan to compete with our dear brother Yevgeny Prigozhin and create a private military company. I think everything will work out,” Kadyrov, 46, said.
Both Kadyrov and Prigozhin lead forces in Ukraine largely autonomously from the Russian military command and are staunch allies of Putin, but have also spoken out publicly against directing military action in the Ukraine war.
The Wagner group is playing an increasingly significant role in Russia’s war in Ukraine, spearheading a months-long assault on the town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.
Kadyrov, the son of former Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov, who was killed in a bombing in Grozny in 2004, has formed a tacit alliance with Prigozhin, with each increasing their criticism of Russia’s top military leadership and calling for a more assertive engagement in the conflict. .
Prigogine, who spent the last decade of the Soviet Union in prison for theft and fraud, has been a Putin ally for years.
His catering group wins government contracts, earning him the nickname “Putin’s chef”, while he sends Wagner mercenaries to fight alongside Russian servicemen in Syria and conflicts in Africa to support Russia’s geopolitical interests .
After years of denial, he admitted his ties to Wagner last year and said he interfered in the US election.
Accumulating evidence suggests that the Kremlin has moved to curb what it sees as Prigozhin’s excessive political influence, ordering him to stop his public criticism of the Russian Defense Ministry and advising state media to stop mentioning his name or that of “Wagner”.
