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Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has blamed Russia's "boorish" attack for making Ukraine's army stronger than it was prior to Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion.
On Thursday, Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, shared an excerpt of an interview conducted in late May between Prigozhin and pro-Moscow blogger Konstantin Dolgov on Twitter. In the interview, the Russian tycoon who leads the paramilitary Wagner outfit suggested Russia is to blame for making Ukraine's army one of the most powerful in the world thanks to weapons it has been sent by its Western allies.
Ukraine has received a trove of armaments and military equipment from its Western allies to assist in its fight against Russia, including MiG-29 fighter jets, anti-aircraft systems, tactical drones, rocket systems, howitzers and artillery rounds.
Prigozhin has ramped up public criticism of Russia's military leadership in recent months, with attacks largely directed toward Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
"We came in a boorish way, walked with our boots all over the territory looking for Nazis," Prigozhin began, echoing one of the justifications Putin gave—"de-nazification"—when launching his full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
"We made Ukraine a nation that is known around the world," the Wagner Group boss said. "As for demilitarization, they had 500 tanks at the beginning of the special operation, now they have 5,000 tanks. They had 20,000 men to fight, now they have 400,000 men to fight. So how did we demilitarize it? On the contrary, we have militarized it."
He added: "The Ukrainian army is one of the strongest today."
Prigozhin said Ukrainian forces have a high level of organization, training, and intelligence.
"They have various weapons, and moreover, they work on any systems, Soviet, NATO, anything, equally successfully," he said.
More recently, Prigozhin praised how Kyiv has handled its counteroffensive, which is in its very early stages.
"The following is happening: Ukrainians began an offensive. I'm saying all as it is. With the offensive, they are moving precisely. Doing everything right," Prigozhin said on Tuesday. "They're cutting off certain areas in the Zaporizhzhia direction. Meanwhile, they're covering their left flank... right for us, left for them. Exactly where the battles are taking place, Urozhaine and so on. They're covering their left flank."
Prigozhin said that, according to his estimates, Ukraine has managed to recapture more than 100 square kilometers (39 square miles) from Russian forces.
"They're moving carefully, calmly. They lost a couple of Leopards and Bradleys. These are routine combat losses, so I'm not saying this to promote them, but to judge sensibly," Prigozhin added.
He was referring to German-made Leopard tanks and U.S. supplied Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry for comment via email.
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About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more