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(FILES) In this file photo taken on March 27, 2018 Russia's flag flutters in front of the Russian Embassy in Tallinn, Estonia. - Estonia on January 11, 2023 said it was expelling 21 Russian diplomats and embassy staff in order to "reach parity" between the two nations' diplomatic personnel. Tensions between Russia and its European neighbours have spiked since Moscow invaded Ukraine last year. The number of positions at Russia's embassy in Tallinn and Estonia's outpost in Moscow would now be equal, the foreign ministry added. The expelled individuals will have to leave Estonia by the end of the month. (Photo by RAIGO PAJULA / AFP)
The Kremlin on Monday denied tensions between the Russian army and the Wagner mercenary force, following competing claims of battlefield wins in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that the conflict had been invented by journalists and military bloggers.
"It is mainly the product of information manipulation," Peskov told reporters.
"They are all fighting for their motherland," Peskov said, referring to the army and Wagner, which was founded by Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Russia "must know and knows its heroes", he added.
"It knows both the heroes who are serving in our armed forces... and the heroes from the Wagner PMC (private military company)."
Talk of rivalry between regular forces and the mercenary group has intensified after Prigozhin insisted last week his fighters had taken control of the salt-mining town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine.
He criticised attempts to "steal the victory" from Wagner.
Prigozhin announced the capture of Soledar on Wednesday.
Russia's defence ministry was quick to rebuff his claim and then announced the "liberation" of the city two days later.
However, in an unusual recognition of the private fighting force, Russia's defence ministry on Friday praised Wagner forces as "courageous".
The mercenary outfit founded in 2014 -- which has been involved in conflicts in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East -- shot to prominence after President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
