"Russian Wealthy Class, No Combat Participation but Only SNS Activity" Putin's Problem-Solver Anger

Russian Mercenary Group Leader Prigozhin
"Martial Law Must Be Declared and All-Out War Launched for Hope"
"No Gains from Invading Ukraine," He Criticizes

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who leads the military company Wagner Group and has participated in the Ukraine war, called for a "total war mobilizing the entire Russian population" while simultaneously criticizing the government.

According to the Washington Post (WP) on the 24th (local time), Prigozhin stated in an interview released on Telegram that "we are in a situation where we could lose Russia" and insisted that "martial law needs to be declared."

Yevgeny Prigozhin Photo by Yonhap News

He said, "We must stop building new roads and infrastructure and focus solely on war efforts," adding, "We need to live like North Korea for several years."

Prigozhin also criticized the wealthy and elites in Russia who do not send their children to war, saying, "While the elite's children boast on the internet about painting Crimea, the children of ordinary people are being carried in coffins."

He pointed out that many casualties, including 20,000 Wagner Group mercenaries killed in Bakhmut, the fiercest battleground in eastern Ukraine, have fueled the anger of bereaved families.

On the other hand, he also criticized President Putin's operations, saying that nothing has been gained from the invasion of Ukraine.

Prigozhin noted, "The 'special military operation' initiated by President Putin's orders has turned the Ukrainian army into the strongest military force in the world and made the world aware of the country called Ukraine."

He added, "In terms of numbers, at the beginning of the war, they (the Ukrainian army) had 500 tanks, but now they have 5,000, and their military personnel increased from 20,000 to 400,000."

Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine (left), is taking a commemorative photo with soldiers at the front-line marine position on the Bukhledar-Marinka defense line in Donetsk Province in the east on the 23rd (local time) to mark Marine Corps Day. On this day, President Zelensky awarded the soldiers and said, "From today, we will strengthen the marine forces and establish additional marine units."
[Photo by AP]

Regarding the prospect that Russia could retain occupied Ukrainian territories if Western support for Ukraine ceases and China mediates peace negotiations, Prigozhin responded, "I do not really believe in such a positive scenario."

He predicted that if the Ukrainian army's counterattack partially succeeds, Russian forces could be pushed back on some fronts, including an attack on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia forcibly annexed in 2014.

Prigozhin founded the mercenary company Wagner Group in 2014 and represented Russian interests by intervening in civil wars around the world, such as in Syria and Libya, instead of the regular Russian military.

However, he suffered heavy losses in the Ukraine war, and last summer, he filled manpower gaps by recruiting prisoners from prisons across Russia as mercenaries and sending them to the front lines.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.