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Updated April 16th, 2023 at 13:36 IST

Wagner chief calls on President Putin to end the 'special military operation' in Ukraine

Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner Group chief and an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, urged the Russian head to end "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Reported by: Digital Desk
Wagner Founder, Putin
Image: AP | Image:self
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Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group and a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has advised the Russian leader to end the current "special military operation" in Ukraine and concentrate on consolidating control over the territories occupied by Russia in Eastern Europe, reported Newsweek.

"For the (Russian) authorities and for society as a whole, today it is necessary to put a decisive end to the special military operation. The ideal option is to announce the end of the special military operation, to inform everyone that Russia has achieved the results that it planned, and in a sense we have actually achieved them," Prigozhin wrote in a blog article posted on Telegram on Friday that was shared and translated by Ukrainian news outlet Pravda.

He also wrote that "theoretically, Russia has already achieved this decisive end by eradicating a large part of Ukraine's active male population and intimidating another part of it that has fled to Europe."

"Now there is only one thing left: to firmly gain a foothold, to claw in those territories that already exist. But there is a slyness - if earlier Ukraine was a part of the former Russia, now it is an absolutely national-oriented state," Prigozhin added. "If before February 24, 2022, the European Union was greedy to give Ukraine tens of millions of dollars, now tens of billions are being turned off for the war."

The head of the Wagner Group emphasised the significance of Bakhmut, a town situated in Ukraine's Donetsk region that has recently witnessed heightened hostilities between Ukrainian and Russian forces. The leader stressed the advantages that Bakhmut could offer to the Russian army.

"...the long battle for Bakhmut is extremely beneficial for Russian troops, because they have already squeezed a large piece of Ukrainian territory in 2022. If the special operation remains within these boundaries, plus or minus a couple of tens of kilometers, then this will solve many of the tasks of the NWO [National World Order]. Bakhmut makes it possible for the Russian army to build up strength, take advantageous defense lines, deal with internal problems, prepare the mobilized and fully armed to meet any number of counter-attacking airmen," Prigozhin wrote.

Russian troops heavily supported by Wagner

The Wagner Group is a private military company supported by the Kremlin and headed by Prigozhin, who is involved in aiding Russia's military actions in Ukraine.

Last February, Putin initiated a military campaign against Ukraine, commonly known as a "special military operation," with the expectation of a swift triumph over the neighboring Eastern European country. However, Ukraine mounted a stronger-than-anticipated defense, supported by military assistance from Western countries, which helped thwart Russian military objectives and curtailed their advances.

More than a year has elapsed since the invasion began, and the fighting is still concentrated in the eastern regions of Ukraine. Analysts contend that Russia's attempts at winter offensives have mostly been unsuccessful.

Despite setbacks, Russian troops have continued to receive support from the Wagner Group, which recruited a significant number of Russian prisoners to participate in the conflict in Ukraine last year. In March, Prigozhin declared that over 5,000 former prisoners had been released since the previous summer after fulfilling their contracts with the group, as reported by the news outlet Meduza.

Additionally, during the winter of 2022, the Wagner Group recruited more than 50,000 prisoners, according to Russia Behind Bars, a nonprofit human rights organization. "We have ground down a huge number of soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and can report to ourselves that our task has been completed," Prigozhin wrote Friday in his blog.

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Published April 16th, 2023 at 13:36 IST

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