Ukraine: Group leader Wagner is proud of his troops

“Independent” and subject to “severe discipline”: Chief of the sub-military group Wagner praised the performance of his troops in Ukraine, where they often compete with the regular Russian army. Yevgueni Prigogine’s comments appear to be a new veiled criticism of the Russian military high command, which has been accused, even by some of Vladimir Putin’s supporters, of lacking coordination and distance from realities on the ground.

In a video released by his press service on Saturday evening, Yevkhuni Prigozhin talks about the reasons why his fighters won. catch city Sun light, In eastern Ukraine, an announcement was still rejected by kyiv. He says his men are highly experienced and have their own aircraft, artillery pieces and armored vehicles, and “accomplish all their objectives independently”.

“The most important thing is the command structure, which is done right. The Wagner group listens to everyone, everyone can have their say,” assures Evgueni Prigogine. But “once a decision is made, all work is done and no one can go back. Strict discipline gives us this chance,” he continued, dressed in camouflage next to a man he posed as Wagner’s commander at the Battle of Soledar.

On Friday, the Russian military announced the capture of Soledar without initially identifying Wagner’s fighters. Evgueni Prigogine, through his press service, deplored his group’s “permanent attempts to steal victories.” Rarely, the Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement praising the “courage” of Wagner’s men at Solidar.

Wagner’s group, founded in 2014, has recruited thousands of prisoners to fight in Ukraine in exchange for sentence reductions. In a sign of his rise to power, Evgueni Prigogine, 61, admitted in September that he had installed Wagner after years of denial. He now regularly travels to the Ukrainian front and actively expresses himself through his press service.