Russian Mercenary Boss [Prigozhin] Says Kremlin’s Grounds for Ukraine War Were Lies

The Kyiv Post ^ | June 23, 2023 | Staff Report

[Timber Rattler]

Evegeniy Prigozhin, head of the notorious Wagner mercenary group, appeared to fling down a direct political and, possibly, military challenge to the Kremlin on Friday, June 23. In another video he declared that Russia’s grounds for invading Ukraine were false and accused the country’s senior leaders of systematically lying to President Vladimir Putin about the debacle.

In another profanity-laced 30-minute video posted on his personal Telegram channel, Prigozhin effectively declared that Russia’s full-scale invasion and its ongoing war with Ukraine were illegal.

Among other statements, which directly contradicted official Russian positions regarding the Ukraine war, Prigozhin flatly denied the Kremlin’s longstanding narrative that the use of Russian troops was inevitable because of continuing Ukrainian attacks on ethnic Russians living in the east of the country, and because NATO was making fast-track plans for Ukraine to become a NATO member.

In fact, Prigozhin said, the Ukrainian military had been exchanging intermittent fire with Russia-supported formations in eastern regions of the country for eight years, and there were no grounds whatsoever for a Russian military invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Equally damaging for Putin’s enduring narrative that the invasion was to protect ethnic Russian in Ukraine, Prigozhin said that not only were those ethnic Russians under no particular danger prior to the full-scale war, but that following Russia’s attack, the very people the Kremlin said Russia was fighting to protect, were now being killed or made refugees in the thousands.

“Zelensky was ready for any arrangement as far as I know; all we had to do was get off Olympus and negotiate. The whole of eastern Ukraine is genetically Russian, and today we kill these ethnic Russians," Prigozhin said.

[Timber Rattler]

That's not all that Prigozhin said on his own Telegram channel...

"No one destroyed 60 Leopards": Wagner Boss Exposes Frontline Reality vs. Kremlin's Fiction

In his latest interview published by his press service, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Chief of PMC Wagner, reveals the severe contrast between the ground reality on the frontline and the information disseminated to the public by the Kremlin. Prigozhin boldly questions the widely circulated Russian claims of 60 destroyed Leopards and reveals the truth behind the Russian army's retreat and the advancements made by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

VIDEO of the Interview

“#Ukraine has not bombed #Donetsk for 8 years, only Russian positions. The Armed Forces of Ukraine were not going to attack Russia with #NATO soldiers; the Russian Ministry of Defense is deceiving the public and the President,” #Wagner PMC chief #Prigozhin said during the interview.

[desertsolitaire]

Oops. Now he’s done it.
He said the quiet part out loud.
This changes everything!?

[House Atreides]

“ Prigozhin boldly questions the widely circulated Russian claims of 60 destroyed Leopards and reveals the truth behind the Russian army’s retreat and the advancements made by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
****************************************************************

I’ve apparently totally missed these “claims” of 60 destroyed Leopard tanks. And as far as I’ve seen credibly, the Russians still hold their first lines of defense in the Zaporizhzhia front. Prigozhin should focus on getting his troops prepared for going over the border in the northeast.

[JonPreston]

Prigozhin wants a raise for himself and his fellow criminals. He’ll hush up when he gets a piece of the land he liberated. Kicking Ukie azz doesn’t come cheaply.

[Navy Patriot]

The GloboHomoNazi Shilling Disinformationist Kyiv Post says that "Russian Mercenary Boss [Prigozhin] Says ..."

Yawn ...

Uke Nazis gettin what they're due.

[Timber Rattler]

He said it on his own Telegram channel, which is why I helpfully provided the link.

[Williams]

I’m sorry but this goes straight up the a$$ of the arrogant idiotic Russian propagandists who have been attacking everyone who tried to introduce a modicum of common sense.

Did you read that? Ukraine wasn’t attacking the Russian held regions except for Russian military occupiers.

And Russia, just like its idiots here, has been LYING.

[Williams]

Get lost liar.

[Williams]

You’re an idiot and liar as stated by the leader of Russia’s most effective fighting force. He just pulled your pants down.

I think anyone that goes on about “homos” to justify a war of aggression is a homo.

Prove me wrong.

[lodi90]

He’s now saying Russian army launched a missile attack on Wagner today. It should be no surprise Ukrainians want no part of this filthy Russian clown World.

[JonPreston]

Name calling? That’s all you do.

[Brellium]

Name calling? That’s all you do.

Still taking orders from your Russian handlers I see.

Pot meet kettle, neo-fascist.

[JonPreston]

Still taking orders from your Russian handlers I see.

childish comments for another grandmother itching for war. Why not send your grand'kids?

[Reverend Wright]

And Globohomo EU / NATO is losing to these guys...

[Widget Jr]

Are the chickens coming home to roost for Prigozhin? He is one of those most directly responsible for laying the groundwork for this war. Wagner was created as a illegal proxy army to take over Donbas and Luhansk after the 2014 Maidan revolution. Before that he played his role as one of Putin's top tolkachi and knows all the players in the game of Kremlin politics. Now he complains about the game.

I wonder how much of this is for Russian domestic politics. He tends to complain when Wagner's experienced fighters start taking casualties. Should Wagner get wiped out Prigozhin loses Putin's patronage and his influence from it. As well as those who will protect him from falling out a window or having a traffic accident at a stop light by a truck.

[Chewbarkah]

Prigozhin’s career has been based on Putin’s patronage. Is this new tirade...
A variation of the old “Good Tsar misled by wicked underlings” excuse?
Or simple jockeying for credit and power among the second tier leadership?
Or attacking Putin’s DM at Putin’s direction to shift blame? For hopium-lovers, is this the start of giving Putin grounds to de-escalate the conflict?
For cynics, it this just chaff and mirrors to fool enemies into overestimating Russian disunity?
Or my favorite, the combo platter?

[Trumpisourlastchance]

It’s a psy op.

[Kazan]

How is that Ukrainian counteroffensive going? The one you and your ilk promised was going to yield results?

All the lies are coming from the Biden regime and Victoria Nuland, who went out of their way to assure this proxy war occurred no matter how many died, no matter how much territory Ukraine lost, no matter how many tax dollars were waste and regardless of how much the people of this country suffered because of it.

[Navy Patriot]

Yawn, ... don't care about Disinformational Propaganda or Participants Propaganda, from any side.

Uke Nazis are getting what they deserve.

Enjoy your "Sandwiches" with Zelensky.

You don't order me around.

Pound Sand.