Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an interview that taking Donetsk and Luhansk, two regions in eastern Ukraine, might take at least a year and a half. The Russian paramilitary group plays a crucial role in the conflict.
A conflict that will continue to drag on? The head of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in an interview that the conquest of Donetsk and Lugansk, two territories in eastern Ukraine, might take two years, the agency reported on Saturday. Archyde.com. A rare statement on the ambitions of the Russian camp regarding the invasion of Ukraine.
“If I understood correctly, we must put an end to the Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and, in principle, that should suit everyone,” said the boss of the mercenary group in a video interview given to Simon Pegov, a Russian military blogger.
This conquest should not be done without difficulty, however, since Evgueni Prigojine estimates that it should take at least a year and a half, even two years, or even more. “If we have to go to Dnipro (city in central Ukraine, editor’s note), then it will take three years,” he says.
The Donetsk and Lugansk regions are still a major target for Vladimir Putin, according to the American think tank Institute For the Study of War (ISW), which indicates that Russia is preparing a major offensive in these territories.
The city of Bakhmout as an objective
Yevgeny Prigojine discussed the situation on the ground and the ambitions of Vladimir Putin’s army, as the first anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches. According to him, Moscow must capture the city of Bakhmout.
“It’s probably too early to say that we are close to (entirely capturing this locality),” he said, referring in particular to “well-trained” Ukrainian troops. “We are doing very well,” he says, however.
He also mentioned the possibility of moving a senior officer to the front, believing that it would be appreciated “in the current situation”. “The soldiers would just be happy and amazed,” he said, suggesting that the troops are experiencing a difficult daily life.
A sulphurous businessman
A former criminal, then a sulphurous businessman, the boss of the Wagner group publicly admitted last September that he had founded the group of Russian mercenaries, considered by the United States to be an international criminal organization.
The paramilitary group Wagner, created in 2014, has recruited thousands of detainees to fight in Ukraine alongside Kremlin men. Evgueni Prigojine said on Thursday that he had put an end to these recruitments.
The paramilitary group is experiencing growing influence with the conflict in Ukraine. In particular, he played an important role in the capture of the Ukrainian city Soledar, the first success for the Russian forces for several months.