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Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin poses with fighters in Bakhmut: often "made in his pants"

Photo: Uncredited / dpa

Again and again, the head of the Russian private army, Wagner, taunts the military leadership in the Kremlin, sometimes more, sometimes less crudely. Now, in a new video, Yevgeny Prigozhin has even warned of an imminent defeat of the Russian army in Ukraine. "We have to prepare for a very serious war," he told pro-Kremlin blogger Konstantin Dolgov, who posted a video of the interview with Prigozhin on Wednesday night.

In order for Russia not to lose, it must declare a state of war and switch the economy to the production of ammunition, Prigozhin said. "We should initiate new mobilizations," said the confidant of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. Everyone should work only for the war.

Prigozhin once again recalled the numerous defeats of the Russian armed forces, which had "made their pants" in front of Kiev and in Kherson and then took off. The 61-year-old also said that it was not he who started the "special military operation", but others. Putin had ordered the war on February 24, 2022. At the same time, Prigozhin said that the struggle that had just begun had to be brought to an end.

Russia has "militarized" Ukraine

Once again, Prigozhin also commented on the Kremlin's stated war goal of "demilitarizing" Ukraine. Ukraine now has many more and heavier weapons and more combat personnel than before the war. Russia has in fact "militarized" the country.

Prigozhin even praised the Ukrainian army as one of the best in the world. "They have a high level of organization, a high level of training, a high level of intelligence, they have different weapons. They work equally successfully with all systems – Soviet or Nato."

On the other hand, he again criticized the Russian Ministry of Defense, which provided the Wagner army with neither sufficient ammunition nor requested personnel. Prigozhin said that the entire Donbass could be conquered today if he had received the 200,000 requested soldiers as reinforcements. Today, Wagner has 6000,600 men who could lead a company. They could control an army of 000,<> soldiers.

But there are fears in the military leadership that the Wagner troops could turn against the Russian power apparatus and ultimately invade Moscow, he said. For the first time, the Wagner boss stated his own losses in the battle for the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region with 20,000 soldiers killed, half of whom were recruited from prisons. Experts expect the death toll to be higher.

mrc/dpa