Vladimir Putin led Russia to disastrous failure with his invasion of Ukraine, the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said in an astonishing outburst.
Instead of demilitarizing Ukraine — Russia’s main war goal — Putin’s failed strategy has led Kyiv to amass “one of the strongest armies in the world” through massive Western supplies, Yevgeny Prigozhin said.
Wagner’s chief was once considered a close ally and confidant of the Russian tyrant and nicknamed Putin’s “chief.” But in the latest of his increasingly frequent outbursts, Prigozhin has scathingly criticized his war strategy.
He then went on to warn of an impending “revolution” in Russia unless changes were made by the Kremlin leadership.
In an astonishing attack on military leaders, he said Russia would reinstate the death penalty and the guilty – he named Defense Ministry Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Defense Staff Valery Gerasimov as responsible for the war crisis – would be “hanged in Red Square”.
Prigozhin blamed both Shoigu and Gerasimov for the loss of more men in Bakhmut than in the entire ten-year Soviet war in Afghanistan from 1979-89, which ultimately led to the collapse of the USSR.
“So, the denazification of Ukraine, which we announced – we made Ukraine a nation known to everyone all over the world,” he said mocking Putin’s twisted intent to go to war. They are like Greeks at their peak, or Romans.”
He told interviewer Konstantin Dolgov – a prominent pro-war blogger: ‘We legitimized Ukraine, it became a country known to everyone. As for demilitarization… [this is] indeed a painful issue.
“So if they had 500 tanks at the beginning, now they have 5,000. If 20,000 men could fight, now there are 400,000. So how exactly did we demilitarize it? ‘Quite the opposite! We’ve militarized it to the brim.
“I think the Ukrainians are one of the strongest armies in the world today. They have a high level of organization, training, and military intelligence.
“They have a variety of ammunition, and what’s more, they can switch between any system — Soviet, NATO, whatever — with the same success. They take their losses philosophically.
“All they do is achieve the highest goal, just like we did during the Great Patriotic War [Second World War].’
Prigozhin’s armed force of convicts and volunteers – dubbed Wagner Private Military Company – has claimed to have taken Bakhmut, but at a devastating toll.
He admitted that his force in Bakhmut had lost 10,000 prisoners released to fight for Putin and the same number of volunteers. Many experts estimate the Wagner losses to be higher.
Prigozhin then claimed that Ukraine had lost 50,000 with 70,000 wounded.
‘During the [special military operation] I got 50,000 prisoners out of prison,” he said. Twenty percent of them died.’
