Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin says Russia has already achieved its goals in Ukraine – but must keep fighting, even if it means humiliating defeat, so that the country can eventually re-emerge as a “war monster” to face the world international community will bow.
After recruiting thousands of prison inmates to wage the war for Vladimir Putin and using his shadow army to pose as a rival to Russia’s military leaders, the mercenary boss and Kremlin-affiliated businessman spoke at length about the state of the war in an article published on Friday . In addition to predicting that Russia would eventually come back stronger than ever, Prigozhin appeared to concede that Ukraine could regain its territories, acknowledged that the Kremlin’s plan had failed and predicted a full-blown revolution in Russia.
“It is now necessary for the authorities and society as a whole to put a decisive end to this [special military operation.] The ideal scenario is the announcement of the end of the [special military operation], to inform everyone that Russia has achieved the planned results, and in a sense we have indeed achieved them. We crushed a large number of fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and we can report that the tasks of the [special military operation] are complete,” he wrote.
He claimed that Russia had “in theory” already put a decisive end to the war by wiping out a large part of Ukraine’s male population, forcing refugees to flee and conquering territories. Of course, it was left out that the same could be said about Russia in the first two points.
And bizarrely, in the midst of all his preaching, Prigozhin seemed to concede that the Ukrainian territories seized by Russia do not really belong to Moscow “forever,” as the Kremlin has so often claimed.
Ukraine will lose if the war stalls, he said, because “these territories that are under the control of the Russian Federation today can be at the Russian Federation’s disposal for years to come.”
Lest anyone think he was suggesting that Russia should stop, Prigozhin hailed a planned counter-offensive by Ukraine, saying, “The sooner it starts, the better.”
But he acknowledged the outcome could prove disastrous for Russia, saying it was “not very likely” that Moscow could launch its own “colossal counter-offensive” and push territory deeper into Ukraine.
He also acknowledged that “many of those who initially supported [the war]are now dubious or categorically against what is happening”, acknowledging that Russia “could not achieve the results that society expected”.
If the Ukrainian counteroffensive managed to break through the Russian defenses, “an army that for years considered itself one of the best in the world” would be thoroughly demoralized.
In that case, he said, “global changes in Russian society” could lead to a full-scale revolution, as pro-war advocates seek revenge on bureaucrats and figures who either criticized the war or refused to use harsher methods on the battlefield.
Curiously, his solution is for Russia to bottom itself out by doubling even further despite its myriad losses over the past year. This is America’s worst nightmare because “when Russia gets to the bottom, it will push off… and float back up like a giant sea monster, destroying everything in its path, including US plans.” ”
He appeared to dismiss further casualties and even a “strike” by the Russian military, saying Russia would simply “lick its wounds” if defeated in a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
“Russia cannot accept an agreement, only a fair fight. And if we come out of this battle battered, we don’t have to worry.”
His comments came the same day secret US documents said Russian special forces had been decimated in the war against Ukraine. Separately, a joint investigation by independent media company MediaZona and the BBC’s Russian service counted that 20,451 Russian soldiers have been killed in the war so far. The true number is believed to be significantly higher, as this number only includes those that have been confirmed by open-source data.