Evgueni Prigojine, boss of the Wagner Group, reveals the monstrous Russian losses in Ukraine

Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigojine attends the funeral of one of his fighters who died in Ukraine, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, December 24, 2022. AP

The boss of the Wagner mercenary company, Evgueni Prigojine, exposed to public opinion, Wednesday, February 22, the photograph of a pile of Russian corpses to open the arsenals of the Ministry of Defense. ” On this image [où l’on distingue une cinquantaine de corps d’hommes alignés à même le sol enneigé], you see one of the places where the corpses are collected. These guys died yesterday. Because of the scarcity of shells. There should be five times fewer deaths,” indignant the businessman, at the microphone of ultranationalist blogger Vladlen Tatarski.

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For several days, he had been asking the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, for shells in all tones, including insults. In a voicemail posted on Telegram on Wednesday, he can be heard belching in typical low-level bombast: “Half my guys are dying because some military officials won’t move their ass. Those who prevent us from winning this war are working directly for the enemy, helping the enemy break Russia’s back. So you have no conscience? said Yevgeny Prigojine, who sent between 30,000 and 50,000 Russian prisoners to almost certain death on the Ukrainian front.

Truand having spent nine years behind bars during the Soviet era, he had discreetly enriched himself from the coming to power of Vladimir Putin thanks to enormous public contracts. He seemed, since the invasion of Ukraine, to have risen to the top of the political elite. Deploying a private army abroad and extracting tens of thousands of criminals from prisons – completely illegal activities in Russia – requires political resources that only President Vladimir Putin can provide. The rise to power of Evgueni Prigojine has however come up against fierce resistance from the Ukrainians for eight months around the city of Bakhmout. As well as the many enemies he has made within the state apparatus.

Deliveries

“Despite all my connections in high places, I cannot solve the problem [de déficit de munitions], admitted the famous businessman close to the Petersburg banker Yuri Kovaltchouk, who is a close friend of the Russian president. They whisper to me: “You know, Evgueni Viktorovitch, you have complicated relationships [il pointe un doigt vers le haut en levant les yeux au ciel], and therefore you must apologize and show contrition. Then your fighters will receive ammunition.” »

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