Russia-Ukraine Flash Report 13 FEB 2023 15:30 PST - Prigozhin Declares War

PMC Wagner channels are in meltdown over the Russian Ministry of Defense Morning Report.

"In the Donetsk direction, the volunteers of the assault detachments, with fire support from the rocket troops and artillery of the "Southern" group of troops, liberated the settlement of Krasnaya Gora of the Donetsk People's Republic."

PMC Wagner captured Krasna Hora three days ago, and after repeatedly minimizing Wagner's role, Prigozhin is back on the offensive.

"On the night of February 11, the assault detachments of the Wagner Group occupied the village of Krasna Hora, near Bakhmut. On February 12, this was officially announced by the leadership."

"A few days later, as in the situation with Soledar, on February 13, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation also announced control over Krasna Hora, indicating in the report that some nameless "volunteer units" had stormed it."

"And you say that this manual is not real."

What manual?

The RIA sent this manual to Russian state media agencies but forgot to not send it to the PMC Wagner-owned Russian state media agencies. Wagner posted the relevant sections:

3. During the coverage of hostilities in the Donetsk direction (Artemovsk (Bakhmut), Soledar, Kleshcheevka, Podgornoe, Krasnopolye, Blagodatnoye, Nikolaevka, etc.) in the media and on Internet sites, it is necessary to completely abandon the mention of Wagner PMC and its head Yevgeny Prigozhin.
In all materials on the topic, use the wording "assault squads", "volunteers of assault squads", "Russian paratroopers", "airborne units", "Russian marines", "marine infantry units", "artillery and aviation of the Southern Military District (SMD)" , "Joint grouping of troops (forces) (OGV (s))", "Russian troops", "Armed forces of the Russian Federation" and so on.
4. Do not quote Yevgeny Prigozhin's statements regarding the situation in the area of ​​the Special Military Operation on the territory of Ukraine in the media and on Internet platforms.
5. Disregard the subject of the recruitment of prisoners and their subsequent participation in the Special Military Operation in the media and on the Internet.

We visited the Russian version of TASS (the English version has different stories, headlines, and writing). There is not a single mention of PMC Wagner or Prigozhin. On the status of Krasna Hora.

"The Ministry of Defense announced the liberation of the settlement of Krasnaya Gora in the DPR."

That is literally it. One sentence.

Concord Group, PMC Wagner's marketing and troll farm arm, posted a fake question to Prigozhin from Gazeta. We included the more relevant part of the question.

"My name is Andrey Veselov, correspondent of the Gazeta.Ru edition.
Yevgeny Viktorovich, we are seeing a sharp decline in references to Wagner PMCs in the media. At the same time, the idea of ​​holding a flash mob in support of the “musicians” was voiced on the fan pages of PMC “Wagner” in Telegram."

Prigozhin (or, more likely, his PR department) wrote in part:

"The reduction in references, I think, is due to the fact that there is a category of losers who are not capable of anything and weave their intrigues in order to put an end to Wagner PMC, to any active patriotic citizens who are ready to give their lives for the future of our children."

The "category of losers" would include Shoigu, Gerisamov, and Lapin (among others) and milbloggers like Girkin. The mention of "active patriotic citizens" could be construed as a jab at the turbo patriot narrative from the Duma.

In yet another post, PMC Wagner's social channels are going as far as openly stating they were set up in Soledar and given inadequate support to maximize their losses.

It is pretty stunning how this spate between PMC Wagner and the Kremlin that started in September has blown up into allegations of intentional sabotage on the battlefield. Whether or not the claim that Wagner was previously ordered to encircle Bakhmut by February 24 is true (Russia's obsession with dates is well-known) is impossible to verify. With 10 days to go, it seems impossible, even with additional Russian support.

The Kremlin Game of Thrones has gotten wild.