Russia on brink of witnessing 'revolution' if war drags on, Wagner Chief warns

Private military group Wagner's chief has warned that a domestic "revolution" could be on the horizon for Russia if the country's forces fail to attain victory over Ukraine and finally conclude the prolonged war. In a conversation with pro-Russian blogger Konstantin Dolgov, Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin gave a sharp assessment of Moscow's wavering military potential. 

Surprisingly, he sang praises of the Ukrainian military, calling it "one of the strongest armies in the world" at present. Kyiv's forces are “highly organised, highly trained and their intelligence is on the highest level, they can operate any military system with equal success, a Soviet or a NATO one," he said, according to CNN. 

Russia has endured relentless attacks in recent weeks, from a drone attack on the Kremlin, to a cross-border strike on its frontline region of Belgorod by an anti-Putin paramilitary group. Addressing the latest setbacks, Prigozhin admitted that Russian defense forces are “absolutely not ready to resist them in any shape or form”.

Wagner chief addresses Belgorod strike

“Here we are with Ukraine, that is our enemy, in the middle of the war, Russian Volunteer Corps groups come in effortlessly and go through (the border) in tanks and APCs without any repercussions and make their own videos if it,” the Wagner chief said scathingly. 

According to Prigozhin, the only way out for Russia to emerge victorious in the 15-month-old war is by announcing "a martial law and a new wave of mobilisation”. He then warned that if the battle isn't won, “all these divisions can end in what is a revolution, just like in 1917.”

“First the soldiers will stand up, and after that – their loved ones will rise up. It is wrong to think that there are hundreds of them – there are already tens of thousands of them – relatives of those killed. And there will probably be hundreds of thousands – we cannot avoid that," he asserted.