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Head of Wagner: "Russia already has won, but will eventually lose, but will then win again."
https://www.thedailybeast.com/wagner-boss-yevgeny-prigozhin-claims-russias-mission-accomplished-in-ukraineWagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin says Russia has already accomplished its goals in Ukraine—but must keep fighting even if it means humiliating defeat so that the country can ultimately rise again as a “war monster” that the international community will bow down to.
...
“For the authorities and for society as a whole, it is necessary today to put a decisive end to the [special military operation.] The ideal scenario 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 that the tasks of the [special military operation] have been completed,” he wrote.
He claimed that “in theory,” Russia had already put a decisive end to the war by wiping out a huge chunk of Ukraine’s male population, sending refugees fleeing, and seizing territory. Omitted, of course, was that the same could be said about Russia on the first two points.
And bizarrely, amidst all of his pontificating, Prigozhin appeared to admit that Ukrainian territories seized by Russia aren’t actually with Moscow “forever,” as the Kremlin has so often claimed.
Ukraine stands to lose if the war comes to a standstill, he said, because “those territories, that are today under the control of the Russian Federation, can stay at the disposal of the Russian Federation for years.”
...
“For the authorities and for society as a whole, it is necessary today to put a decisive end to the [special military operation.] The ideal scenario 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 that the tasks of the [special military operation] have been completed,” he wrote.
He claimed that “in theory,” Russia had already put a decisive end to the war by wiping out a huge chunk of Ukraine’s male population, sending refugees fleeing, and seizing territory. Omitted, of course, was that the same could be said about Russia on the first two points.
And bizarrely, amidst all of his pontificating, Prigozhin appeared to admit that Ukrainian territories seized by Russia aren’t actually with Moscow “forever,” as the Kremlin has so often claimed.
Ukraine stands to lose if the war comes to a standstill, he said, because “those territories, that are today under the control of the Russian Federation, can stay at the disposal of the Russian Federation for years.”
...
If Ukraine’s counteroffensive manages to break through Russian defenses, he said, “an army that for years considered itself one of the best in the world” would be thoroughly demoralized.
In that case, he said, “global changes in Russian society” could lead to an all-out revolution as pro-war patriots seek revenge against bureaucrats and figures who were either critical of the war or reluctant to use harsher battlefield methods.
In that case, he said, “global changes in Russian society” could lead to an all-out revolution as pro-war patriots seek revenge against bureaucrats and figures who were either critical of the war or reluctant to use harsher battlefield methods.
This is meant as a threat against Putin's faction in the russian government. The pro-war extremists in Russia are literally demanding genocide against Ukrainians, which Putin and his people are against: They want to conquer, not destroy.
His solution, strangely, is for Russia to let itself sink to rock bottom by doubling down even further despite its myriad losses over the past year. According to him, that’s America’s worst nightmare, because “if Russia gets to the bottom, then it will push off from there… and float back up like a huge sea monster, demolishing everything in its path, including the plans of the United States.”
He appeared to shrug off further losses and even a “battering” of the Russian military, saying Russia would simply “lick its wounds” if defeated in a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
He appeared to shrug off further losses and even a “battering” of the Russian military, saying Russia would simply “lick its wounds” if defeated in a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Let's look at the achievements of the Special Military Operation:
* The Ukraine-Russia relationship has gone from "I'm mad at you." to "I'm gonna kill your ass." Any hope for Russia to secretly control Ukraine via soft power, as they did in the past, is simply gone for approximately the rest of the 21st century.
* Two neighbours of Russia have entered NATO.
* Ukraine is moving politically away from Russia and towards NATO and EU.
* Russia's dream of founding their own international economic union, a mirror to the EU and the Eurozone, to take control over the economies of Central Asia via soft power, is dead. There will never be a russian counterpart to the economic juggernaut that is the EU and the Eurozone.
* The russian economy is in tatters.
* The russian people have been transformed from the passive complacency of letting the government do whatever it wants into a polarized and politically active society, with actual political opinions strongly in favor of Putin and strongly against Putin.
* The russian military is depleted, most of its modern gear is destroyed. Many specialists and the most experienced soldiers are already dead.
* Russia's neighbours have learned that Russia isn't a benevolent super-power, but is actually weak and hostile towards them.
* Russia's economy is now at the mercy of China, their second-biggest geopolitical rival after the West.
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