Russia has already accomplished its goals in Ukraine, says Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin — but must continue to fight even if it means a humiliating defeat so that the country can eventually rise again as a “beast of war” to which the international community will bow.
After recruiting thousands of prison inmates to help fight the war for Vladimir Putin and using his shadow army to pose as a challenger to Russia’s top military brass, the mercenary chief and Kremlin-linked businessman has offered his thoughts on the state of war for a long time. condition Published Friday. In addition to predicting that Russia would eventually come back stronger than ever, Prigozhin seemed to concede that Ukraine might regain its territory, admit that the Kremlin plan had failed, and predict a full-blown revolution in Russia.
For the authorities and for society as a whole, today it is necessary to put a decisive end to [special military operation.] The ideal scenario is to announce the end [special military operation], to inform everyone that Russia has achieved the results that it planned, and in a sense we have already achieved them. We have shot down a large number of fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and can report on missions [special military operation] completed,” he wrote.
He claimed that Russia had already “in theory” brought a decisive end to the war by eliminating a large portion of the male population of Ukraine, sending refugees fleeing, and seizing territory. It is omitted, of course, that the same can be said about Russia in the first two points.
Oddly enough, in the midst of all his speeches, Prigozhin seemed to admit that the Ukrainian lands captured by Russia are not actually with Moscow “forever,” as the Kremlin often claimed.
He said that Ukraine would lose if the war stopped, because “those territories, which today are under the control of the Russian Federation, can remain at the disposal of the Russian Federation for years.”
Lest anyone think he was suggesting Russia call it quits, however, Prigozhin continued to encourage Ukraine’s planned counterattack—saying “the earlier it starts, the better.”
But he admitted the outcome could be disastrous for Russia, saying it was “highly unlikely” that Moscow would launch a “massive counterattack” of its own and take territory deep into Ukraine.
He also admitted that “many of those who initially supported [the war]now doubtful, or categorically opposed to what is happening, “and admitted that Russia” cannot achieve the results that society expected.
He said that if the counterattack in Ukraine managed to break through the Russian defenses, “the army that for many years considered itself one of the best in the world” would be completely demoralized.
In this case, he said, “global changes in Russian society” could lead to total revolution as pro-war patriots sought revenge on bureaucrats and figures who were either critical of the war or reluctant to use harsher methods of fighting.
Strangely enough, his solution is for Russia to allow itself to sink to the bottom by doubling down on its strength despite its countless losses over the past year. According to him, this is America’s worst nightmare, because “if Russia gets to the bottom, it will spring from there … and float up again like a huge sea monster, destroying everything in its path, including the plans of the United States.”
He seemed to ignore further losses and even the “beating” of the Russian army, saying that Russia would simply “lick its wounds” if it were defeated in a Ukrainian counterattack.
Russia cannot accept any agreement, only a fair fight. And if we come out of this battle battered, there is nothing to worry about.”
His comments came on the same day that classified US documents said that Russian special forces had been decimated in the war against Ukraine. Separately, a joint investigation According to the independent media MediaZona and the BBC Russian service, 20,451 Russian servicemen have been killed so far in the war. The real number is believed to be much higher, since this number includes only those confirmed by open source data.
