Prigozhin hits a nerve

Journalists at Kremlin-run news outlets have reportedly been banned from quoting Wagner Group’s founder

Evgeny Prigozhin, the ex-convict who founded Russia’s now-infamous Wagner Group back in 2014, spent much of the last week publicly blasting Russia’s Defense Ministry for failing to provide ammunition to his mercenary company. Then, on Thursday, he reported that his outbursts had worked. Despite Prigozhin’s claims that the issue had life-or-death consequences for Russian fighters, Russia’s state-controlled news outlets devoted almost no coverage to the dispute. According to a new report, that was no accident: citing sources from the Kremlin-controlled media and the Russian Defense Ministry, the independent outlet Verstka reported Thursday that state journalists have been ordered not to quote Prigozhin unless absolutely necessary — and that the Putin administration has a smear campaign against the Wagner boss ready to launch if needed.

A number of Russian state-backed media outlets have been instructed not to quote statements made by Wagner mercenary group founder Evgeny Prigozhin concerning “non-neutral topics,” the independent media outlet Verstka reported on Thursday, citing a source from one of the agencies. In addition, according to a source close to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Russian authorities have prepared a “media smear campaign” against Prigozhin, but have decided not to launch it for the time being.

An analysis by Verstka’s journalists found that the Kremlin-controlled news agencies RIA Novosti, TASS, and Interfax have indeed stopped quoting Prigozhin’s statements in recent weeks, with the exception of statements directly related to Wagner Group’s battlefield activity.

“In a meeting this week, the higher-ups repeated to us that the block on Prigozhin that we put in place in January remains in effect,” said the source from one state outlet. “We’re banned from mentioning him unless it’s absolutely necessary, we’re banned from quoting him, except in cases where he’s the first person to report news about successes on the front line. For example, if they captured Soledar or reached the outskirts of Bakhmut.” The source close to the Defense Ministry confirmed that the ban was imposed in mid-January.

The sources’ claims are consistent with the fact that none of Russia’s state news outlets reported on the Wagner boss’s recent criticisms of the Russian Defense Ministry for failing to provide ammunition to the mercenary company, though they did publish the response from Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov. The agencies also ignored Prigozhin’s February 23 statement in which he claimed Wagner Group had begun receiving the supplies it needed.

In addition to the media blackout against Prigozhin, the source close to the Defense Ministry also told Verstka that early this year, members of the Putin administration began discussing the idea of a media campaign against the mercenary chief. According to the source, the proposal came from parts of the administration controlled by First Deputy Chief of Staff Alexey Gromov. By the end of January, the source said, the administration had “buckets of shit” about Prigozhin “ready to launch,” but ultimately decided to hold off on the campaign for the time being.

Report from Verstka

Translation by Sam Breazeale