Leaked documents obtained by The Washington Post reveal that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, made repeated offers to expose the positions of Russian troops to Ukraine’s federal intelligence agency.
These leaks, initially published on Discord, suggest that the offer was presented in late January, with Prigozhin requesting Ukraine’s withdrawal of troops from Bakhmut, an eastern city.
While the documents do not explicitly mention the specific Russian army positions involved in Prigozhin’s proposal, Ukrainian officials reportedly declined the offer, citing a lack of trust in the mercenary boss’s commitment to fulfilling his part of the agreement.
The authenticity of the correspondence between Prigozhin and the intelligence agency was confirmed by two Ukrainian officials who shared the information with The Washington Post.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky opted not to comment on the matter during an interview with WaPo.
Prigozhin vehemently denied the allegations, dismissing the leaked information as “laughable” and blaming the incident on individuals from Rublyovka—a prosperous Moscow suburb known for housing influential political and business figures.
Expressing his thoughts in an audio message on Telegram, Prigozhin appeared to find some satisfaction in the revelations: “Reading this is of course nice.
It means I am not only fighting for Russia but Zelensky is also fulfilling my orders,” as reported by the English-language Moscow Times.
He also anticipated an onslaught of criticism, stating, “Of course they will pour as much s*** on me as they can.”
The Kremlin responded to the leak during a press briefing, simply stating that it appeared to be “fake.”
This alleged offer from Prigozhin follows a series of intense public clashes between the Wagner Group leader and Russia’s defense ministry regarding Moscow’s approach to the situation in Ukraine.
Last week, Prigozhin released a video laden with profanities, indirectly criticizing the individual responsible for directing Russia’s war efforts and fueling speculation about whether he was targeting President Vladimir Putin himself.
Days prior to the video’s release, Prigozhin announced the withdrawal of his mercenaries from Bakhmut, expressing frustration with Moscow’s failure to supply sufficient ammunition and resources to support his forces. The video included graphic footage of deceased Russian fighters strewn across a field.
The escalating feud between Prigozhin and the defense ministry has led some within the Kremlin to anticipate intervention from Moscow’s security services, according to Meduza.
A source close to the Kremlin suggested that if the situation persists, the official security forces will likely step in, stating, “As long as Wagner is there [on the frontline], there is little danger for Prigozhin; he has the chance to enter into direct dialogue with the president.
But if it goes on like this, the official security forces will definitely stop it.”
The Washington Post report indicates that Putin’s administration suspects that Prigozhin may have been engaging in communication with Ukrainian intelligence.