VLADIMIR Putin’s warlord has urged the tyrant to stop the war in Ukraine and tell the world Russia has “achieved its aims”.
Outspoken Yevgeny Prigozhin – who heads the dictator’s feared Wagner Group – warned Russian people may seek a “scapegoat” for military failures.
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It is the first time one of Putin’s senior henchmen directly involved in the fighting has risked making a shock call to end the brutal invasion.
His warning for Russia to declare an end to hostilities appears to acknowledge the weaknesses of the Kremlin’s forces, and a loss of appetite for war among people.
Prigozhin said Russia had succeeded in killing a large number of Ukrainian men and prompting others to leave the country – failing to mention the greater numbers of his own people who have perished.
He added: “For the authorities and society as a whole, it is today necessary to put a solid full stop on 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.
“We have ground down a huge number of fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and we can report to ourselves that the tasks of the special military operation have been completed.”
Yet Prigozhin – dubbed “Putin’s chef” – said “nothing threatened” the “supreme power of Russia”, evidently referring to the tyrant.
He added: “Theoretically, Russia has already [made a point] by destroying a large part of the active male population of Ukraine, and by intimidating another part of it, which fled to Europe.
“Russia cut off the Sea of Azov and a large piece of the Black Sea, seized a fat piece of Ukrainian territory and created a land corridor to the Crimea.
“Now there is only one thing left: to firmly gain a foothold, to claw in those territories that already exist.”
He admitted Ukraine could launch a counter offensive and break Russian lines, having previously said he fears Ukraine has built up a 200,000-strong reserve.
Prigozhin added: “In this case, in the [Russian] army, which for years considered itself one of the best armies in the world, decadent moods may begin at first, and then the situation degrades.”
This happened in historic wars with Finland and Japan, as well as in the First World War when revolution came in 1917’s “tragic events”, he said.
“This can lead to global changes in Russian society,” Prigozhin said.
“The people are already looking for someone to blame for the fact that we are not the strongest army in the world, and in this situation they will look for ‘the scapegoat’.”
These are likely to be members of Russia’s “deep state”.
“At the same time, nothing threatens the supreme power of Russia, since it is a symbol of national unity and resistance to the West,” he wrote.
“I summarise – the Ukrainians are ready to attack. We are ready to repel the blow.
“The best scenario for healing Russia so that it rallies together and becomes the strongest state is the offensive of the armed forces of Ukraine, in which no negotiations will be possible.
“And either the armed forces of Ukraine will be defeated in a fair fight, or Russia will lick its wounds, build up muscles and tear its rivals again in a fair fight.”
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