Wagner Group–Russian Ministry of Defence conflict

The rivalry between the then-head of Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the leadership of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, headed by Sergei Shoigu, in the public sphere began in 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ultimately led to the Wagner Group rebellion on 23–24 June 2023. According to United States officials, Yevgeny Prigozhin had longstanding disputes with the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) "for years" prior to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, these tensions escalated and became more public during this stage of the Russo-Ukrainian War. During the initial stages of the invasion, the Russian Ground Forces suffered significant casualties, but the announcement of mobilization for reservists was delayed by Russian president Vladimir Putin. As a result, authorities actively sought to enlist mercenaries for the invasion, which led to a heightened influence and power for Prigozhin and the Wagner Group. Prigozhin was allocated substantial resources, including his own aviation assets. Additionally, starting in the summer of 2022, he gained the authority to recruit inmates from Russian prisons into the Wagner Group in exchange for their freedom. Western intelligence estimated that the number of Wagner mercenaries increased from "several thousand" fighters around 2017–2018 to approximately 50,000 fighters by December 2022, with the majority comprising criminal convicts recruited from prisons.

Although the government provided them with increasingly large resources, Wagner had no legal authority. Prigozhin held no official position and was neither appointed nor elected, meaning that he technically had no authority to answer to. Furthermore, Prigozhin gained international recognition and abandoned his previously secluded personal life. He frequently reported news from the front line while wearing military fatigues. Wagner began to be perceived as Prigozhin's private army, operating beyond the boundaries of Russian legislation and the country's military hierarchy. Dissatisfaction arose within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the General Staff, leading them to make efforts to curtail Prigozhin's growing influence. In early February 2023, Prigozhin announced that Wagner had ceased recruiting prisoners, which the British Defence Ministry interpreted as a government ban on such recruitment. This change was expected to diminish the group's fighting capacity.

Conversely, Prigozhin portrayed himself as a populist figure who confronted the military establishment, repeatedly accusing it of failing to protect national interests. On 1 October 2022, during Ukraine's Kharkiv counteroffensive, which expelled Russia from most of the region, Prigozhin criticized the Russian command, stating that "All these bastards ought to be sent to the front barefoot with just a submachine gun." Due to his increased influence, Prigozhin was among the few who dared to complain about the military commanders to Putin. Prigozhin primarily targeted the MoD, characterizing its officials as corrupt. However, he also criticized other segments of the Russian elite, including the members of Russian parliament and Russian oligarchs, whom he accused of attempting to "steal everything that belongs to the people" during the war. In one of his statements, Prigozhin criticized Russian elite and their children for enjoying a luxurious and carefree life while ordinary people die in the war. Prigozhin drew parallels between this "division in society" and the one preceding the 1917 Russian Revolution, warning of potential uprisings by "soldiers and their loved ones" against such injustice. The Institute for the Study of War noted that Prigozhin's statements increased his influence within the ultranationalist Russian milblogger community. During the grueling battle of Bakhmut, tensions between the Wagner Group and the MoD reached a critical juncture. Prigozhin repeatedly voiced his dissatisfaction with the Kremlin's inadequate ammunition supply. He issued threats of withdrawing his forces unless his demands were fulfilled, specifically blaming Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov for the significant loss of life among Wagner fighters, which he claimed amounted to "tens of thousands" of casualties; on another occasion he stated the number of casualties as 20,000.

Following the Russian proclamation of victory in Bakhmut in late May 2023, Wagner began withdrawing from the city, giving way to regular troops. Internal conflicts persisted between Wagner and the military during this transition. Prigozhin claimed that the military made attempts to assault his retreating forces on both 3 June and 5 June, further claiming that the Russian military had laid mines on the route taken by Wagner during their retreat from Bakhmut. On 5 June 2023, Prigozhin released a video through his social media platforms, purporting to depict the apprehended Lt. Colonel Roman Venevitin of Russia's 72nd Brigade, confessing to having ordered his troops to open fire on retreating Wagner forces, purportedly under the influence of alcohol.

The culmination of the Bakhmut battle, where Wagner played a pivotal role, marked the onset of a period of increasing isolation from the establishment. On 6 June 2023, Prigozhin made a public accusation, asserting that influential individuals were actively sabotaging his highly profitable catering enterprise in association with the Russian military. For more than ten years, these catering contracts had served as a source of his wealth and clout. Concurrently, Prigozhin witnessed a surge in popularity, marking a notable shift in his public perception from non-political to political persona.