Wagner Group leader is criticizing Putin's botched war plans in Ukraine again because he didn't get a reward for capturing Bakhmut, Western intel says

• Wagner Group chief Prigozhin criticized Putin after not receiving a reward for capturing Bakhmut.
• Prigozhin has feuded with both Putin and the Russian Ministry of Defense regarding Bakhmut, ISW said.

Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin might be criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ministry of Defense because he didn't get some sort of reward for capturing Bakhmut, new analysis suggests.

According to an update from The Institute for the Study of War, Prigozhin's repeated attacks against Putin's character — including profane and thinly veiled insults earlier this month — and criticism of the Ministry of Defense may be tied to a lack of reward for Wagner's capture of Bakhmut.

"Prigozhin's jabs at Putin and the Russian MoD — in combination with his bragging about Wagner's accomplishments — may suggest that Prigozhin is frustrated that he did not receive some promised compensation for his victory in the Battle for Bakhmut," ISW said.

While it's not clear what reward Prigozhin would have received, the complications around his capture of Bakhmut may indicate a reluctance from Putin and Russian military leaders to reward him, according to the ISW.

One of those complications is the timing of the actual capture of Bakhmut. ISW reported that the Kremlin hoped to sack Bakhmut earlier than Prigozhin actually did, possibly to compare the win to Victory Day celebrations and the Soviet Union's capture of Berlin in 1945.

Prigozhin said Wagner troops took control of Bakhmut on May 10, and cleared the city on May 21, later blaming the delay on the lack of ammunition provided by the Russian Ministry of Defense, ISW stated.

Prigozhin said on Sunday that Kremlin media has effectively banned reporting about him or Wagner, likely because of his ongoing insults of Putin and Russian leaders, according to Reuters.

One of the earliest signs of the reluctance to cover Prigozhin came after Wagner claimed victory in Bakhmut — Reuters reported that Russian state television did not report on the fall of Bakhmut for 20 hours and did not air Prigozhin's victory speech.

When asked about the apparent ban on coverage of him, Reuters reported that Prigozhin said: "That high-level bureaucrats, those very towers of the Kremlin, are trying to shut the mouths of everyone so that they don't speak about Wagner will only give another shove to the people."