Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the mercenary group Wagner, has warned that Russia could face a 1917-like revolution and lose the war in Ukraine if the country’s elites do not get involved in the war.
Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine sparked one of the deadliest European conflicts since World War II and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Ukraine is preparing a counteroffensive aimed at pushing Russian troops back to pre-2014 borders, when Russia annexed Crimea, Prigozhin said. Ukraine would try to encircle Bahmut and attack Crimea, he added.
“Most likely, this scenario will not be good for Russia, so we have to prepare for a difficult war,” he said in an interview posted on his Telegram channel, according to Reuters.
“We have reached such a state that we could lose the hell out of Russia – that is the main problem… We have to impose martial law.”
Prigozhin said that his political vision was dominated by love for the motherland and service to Putin. He said the nickname “Putin’s chef” is stupid because he can’t cook, joking that “Putin’s butcher” might be a more appropriate nickname.
Russia’s elite, he said, protected their own children while the children of ordinary Russians perished at the front, a situation that could spark unrest in Russia.
If ordinary Russians continued to bring their children back in zinc coffins while the children of the elite basked abroad, he said, Russia would face upheavals similar to the 1917 revolutions that led to war civil.
Editor : R.K.
