The Controversial Rise of Wagner Group's Leader and His Criticism of Russian Leadership.

The reported capture of Bakhmut by the Wagner Group has magnified the influence of its founder, Evgeny Prigozhin, in the Kremlin, with President Putin personally congratulating the mercenaries for their role in the assault. However, Prigozhin's facetious veiled remarks about "some happy grandpa" who is deluded that "all is well" at the front have made many senior officials wonder whom he was hinting at, and his attacks on the Defense Ministry have been perceived as a thinly veiled criticism of Putin. While Prigozhin's influence over Putin and the Russian political establishment needn't be exaggerated, he may persist in his attacks on the Defense Ministry and could find a niche in Russian politics after the war.