KNIVES OUT

Leaked Docs Show Russian Military Brass Plotting to Smear Mercenary Boss

Yevgeny Prigozhin announced Friday that he would make good on threats to pull his troops out of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

Leaked documents have revealed that Russian military officials at one point considered launching a smear campaign against notorious Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, The Washington Post reports. The information, which was published on Discord, allegedly by National Guard airman Jack Teixera, shows that Defense Ministry officials struggled to mount a response as Prigozhin publicly lambasted them and begged the president for support. This politicking came to a head Friday, when Prigozhin announced that he would make good on threats to pull his troops out of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut by May 10 because the government allegedly had not provided them with sufficient ammo and support. Experts say encouraging this kind of factionalism is a classic Putin move to keep any one underling from getting too strong, but in this case it seems to be severely hindering his effort to mount a successful campaign in Ukraine.