To divide
Yevgeny Prigozhin often and happily expresses himself – but rarely in Western media. Apparently he has now done so. And fuel delivered.
Helsinki/Munich – Is Yevgeny Prigozhin really demanding an end to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine? Ironically, Wagner’s boss confirmed his latest statements to a Western milieu – and at the same time caused frowns with the bizarre suggestion of a “duel” with a selection of a NATO army.
The editors of Finland’s largest daily newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, said Prigozhin contacted his company “Concord” through the press office. A little later, a response with some explosive force apparently followed through the Telegram messaging service.
Putin under pressure from Wagner? Prigozhin repeats call for end to war in Ukraine
“The foreign media captured the most important thing in my article: the fact that the special operation must be ended,” confirmed Prigozhin, according to Helsingin Sanomat. In Russia, the war of aggression against Ukraine continues to operate as a “special operation”. According to Prigozhin, the interim end point could be the conquest of Bakhmut, which Wagner had also long aimed for, as well as a breakthrough to the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Oblast – and “a few other great achievements”. .
Challenges Finland to a duel: Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigoschin. © Konkord Company/Imago Press Service
However, Prigozhin’s statements were unclear in terms of content. According to the newspaper, he did not propose the end of the “special operation”. However, the end of it can be announced so that Russians can see that the “objectives set” have been achieved and are “satisfied with what has been achieved”.
A target point is important for this – the main task and outcome of the mission so far remained unclear, emphasized the mercenary boss according to the report. As such, Prigozhin called the “demilitarization” of Ukraine and the killing of a large proportion of enemy soldiers. Ukraine is “full” of Western weapons. At the same time, however, the “annihilation of a struggling population” is a good outcome for “all wars.” As well as criticizing Putin, Prigozhin apparently also tried to demonstrate loyalty: he was not “desperate”, but ready “to continue to the end”.
Prigozhin proposes a duel with the army of Finland: “To the death”
Helsingin Sanomat also made an unusual request to Prigozhin – and received the same answer. The newspaper asked for an assessment of the effectiveness of the Finnish army. Apparently, Prigozhin did not want to judge from afar. Instead, he suggested a kind of “duel” with the new NATO member’s armed forces. This is the only way to make a review.
The newspaper was to submit a proposal to the Finnish government to send 500 “well-equipped” Finnish soldiers to a location specified by it, Prigozhin said. With 500 of Wagner’s mercenaries, a fight “to the death” must then be fought: “Let’s meet and measure which side is stronger.”
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Whether it was mercenary humor or some kind of “offer” was unclear. As well as the answer to the question of whether the statements came from Prigozhin himself, as the newspaper admitted. They were written in a rather crude style and deviated from the official course of the government of Russia. However, they agreed with previous statements by mercenary boss Helsingin Sanomat analyzed in his report on Tuesday (April 18).
Concerns over Russian stocks have been growing in Finland recently. Scandinavian newspapers uncovered a Russian mission in the Baltic Sea, as reported by kreiszeitung.de, among others. In the previously demilitarized and strategically important Finnish archipelago of Åland, there are calls for local military protection. (fn)