Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the private military group Wagner, has warned that Russia could face an uprising and be defeated in its conflict with Ukraine if senior officials do not start taking the war seriously.
Russia's most powerful private military man says his political views are rooted in love of country and a desire to serve President Vladimir Putin, but he is forced to warn that Russia could be at risk of falling into chaos.
Mr Prigozhin said many people had optimistic views that the West would become tired of the war and China would mediate peace , but he never believed in such possibilities.
Instead, he said, Ukraine was preparing for a counteroffensive aimed at pushing Russian troops back from the border before Russia occupied Crimea in 2014. He added that Ukraine could encircle Bakhmut, a flashpoint in the confrontations in eastern Ukraine, and attack Crimea.
“This most likely scenario is not good for Russia at all and so we must prepare for a difficult fight. We are in a situation where we could lose Russia, that is the biggest problem… We need martial law,” he said in an interview posted on his Telegram channel.
Mr. Prigozhin once said that the nickname “Putin’s chef” that people called him was too silly, because he himself did not know how to cook and had never been a chef. He thought the nickname “Putin’s butcher” was probably more appropriate.
“They can call me by Putin's nickname, the butcher, it would be much more appropriate.”
The war in Ukraine
Mr. Prigozhin assessed the Kremlin's method of carrying out "special military operations" as unclear, contradictory and confusing.
He believes that the Russian military leadership has repeatedly "slipped up" in this war.
He said the cross-border attack on the Russian city of Belgorod showed a failure of military leadership and warned that Ukraine would move towards further attacks on Russia.
He believed that Russia needed to mobilize more troops and change its economy to serve the war effort.
According to him, the Wagner organization recruited about 50,000 prisoners into its ranks and 20% died in the conflict. About 10,000 of his contract soldiers also died.
He added that in Bakhmut, Ukraine, there were about 50,000 to 70,000 soldiers wounded and about 50,000 soldiers killed.
Reuters could not verify the casualty claims from either side, and neither the Russian nor Ukrainian governments gave casualty figures. The Ukrainian government said the Russian casualty toll was much higher than its own.
Mr. Prigozhin said that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu should be replaced by General Mikhail Mizintsev and Commander-in-Chief Valery Gerasimov should be replaced by Sergei Surovikin, whom Russian media calls “General Armageddon.”
Asked about his political views, he said: “I love my country, I serve Putin, Shoigu must be judged and we will continue to fight.”
Nguyen Quang Minh (Brief translation from Reuters)
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