The founder of PIK " However, the Kremlin put him in his place. This is stated in the report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) for January 16.

“Vladimir Putin attributed the success on the front line to the Russian Ministry of Defense (MO) and the General Staff, answering a journalist’s questions on January 15 about the Russian offensive in Soledar. Putin's statement was broadcast live on state-controlled television and was likely a deliberate attempt to undermine Prigozhin's influence in the Russian media space, given that Putin had previously refrained from commenting on tactical advances in Ukraine..

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tried to refute reports of an ongoing conflict between Prigozhin and the Russian Defense Ministry, saying on January 16 that the reports were “the product of information manipulation,” hinting that Prigozhin was conducting these manipulations.. Prigozhin, in response to this statement by Peskov, commenting on the conflict, did not object to him. He kept vaguely speaking in order to provoke more discussions in the Russian information space, ultimately aimed at undermining the credibility of the Ministry of Defense and Putin.. In addition, he presented the Wagnerites with medals for the capture of Soledar, despite the fact that Putin assigned this achievement to the Ministry of Defense..

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Recall that the speaker of the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Sergei Cherevaty, said on the air of the telethon that the invaders have to concentrate a lot of personnel for assaults in Soledar, because this is their main resource. Each of their next assault group goes over the bodies of the previous one - the occupying army suffered heavy losses there.