Wagner chief explains why Russia refuses to end 'special military operation' in Ukraine

Russia's shadowy mercenaries group Wagner PMC's chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, justified the need to continue the ongoing military operation in Ukraine, warning that Ukraine's Armed Forces will try to "recapture" 2014 annexed Crimea and other occupied territories in a renewed assault if his fighters withdrew or ceased fight. With the help of the emboldened NATO, and Western weaponry flowing to Kyiv, Ukraine's military will "break through these red lines and return those territories that belonged to it until 2014, and maybe with a bonus," said Prigozhin. 

"Of course, the special operation can end even tomorrow, you can withdraw all those lines on which our troops are now located. It is desirable to draw them with a bold stripe so that later you do not catch a plus or minus kilometre. On this, fix the Russian border, and put border guards on it. Next, thank the top military leadership for the excellent results in the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, hold a parade on Red Square, present new orders with new profiles, send troops to the Chukotka-2023 exercises, and Wagner PMC to the Kolyma-2023 exercises and continue to rejoice," said Wgner chief, in a sarcasm laden tone in a statement shared by his press service on Telegram. 

The victory "will not last long," noted the head of the PMC, adding that "there is no doubt about it." If Wagner stops fighting, the Ukrainian military will advance on occupied territories and "it may turn out to be even more tragic and bloody," said Prigozhin. "Therefore, we need to fight for Russia here and now," the Russian Oligarch, dubbed as "Putin's chef" noted.

Prigozhin demands removal of St Petersburg governor: 'Any janitor will do better than him'

Wagner chief condemned the conventional military forces of the Russian Federation, and Putin installed ministers. "In St. Petersburg, everyone should transfer to the BMP, or, finally, they should already kick out the governor, who is completely out of his mind," he noted, calling for the removal of governor Alexander Beglov. "Any janitor will do better than him. They slipped it on us, and we sat, we endured this lawlessness for almost four years," Prigozhin furthermore added. 

Earlier, PMC Wagner chief had derided Moscow's "monstrous military bureaucracy" for slowing territorial gains in the battered industrial city of Bakhmut. "To take Bakhmut you have to cut all supply routes. It's a significant task," he said. "Progress is not going as fast as we would like. Bakhmut would have been taken before the new year," he added, "if not for our monstrous military bureaucracy," Wagner chief noted.