Evgueni Prigojine believes that Moscow has “achieved the expected results” and must now defend the annexed territories while preventing a counter-offensive from kyiv.
A first step towards the end of the conflict? As spotted by our colleagues from TF1Yevgueni Prigojine, the sulphurous founder and leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, called on the social network Telegram to end the “special military operation” carried out by Russia since February 22, 2022.
“For the authorities and for society as a whole, it is now necessary to put a definitive end to the special military operation,” he said.
“The objectives are achieved”
According to this close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, it is however essential that Russia gets out of this war through the front door. For him, it is necessary “to inform the whole world that Russia has achieved the expected results” while the Russian army has taken, according to him, “a large part” of Ukrainian territory.
“We have wiped out a large number of fighters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and we can declare that the objectives have been achieved”, he insists, referring to a land corridor that connects Crimea to Russian territory and the capture of the Sea of Azov via Mariupol.
These won territories, “which are now under the control of Russia”, it is appropriate for Prigozhin to henceforth defend and lock them, because they “can remain at the disposal of Russia for years.” Among these territories mentioned, the city of Bakhmout and its region, the scene of a bloody battle during which many men of Wagner lost their lives.
During this speech on the social network, Prigojine also fears the hypothesis of a counter-attack by the Ukrainian army which, equipped with Western weapons, could “somewhere break through our defenses” and turn the situation around.
Fear of popular anger
Finally, the leader of Wagner also spoke of the consequences of a hypothetical Russian defeat in Ukraine, synonymous according to him with a “popular revolt” against “the deep state mired in luxury and bureaucracy.”
“These people who today, without making any effort in a military operation, are as far as possible from the theater of operations”, he tackles.
Implicitly, this attack targets the Minister of the Armed Forces Sergei Shoigu, with whom disagreements are great, and whom he has already accused on several occasions of not coming to the field. The statement also confirms the serious dissensions and errors that exist at the top of the Russian state, spotted by American intelligence.
These new statements also come as early April, the same Prigojine admitted that his troops continued to suffer heavy losses on the battlefield.
