Russian mercenary lays out ambitions for ‘ideological army’ | – #Russian #mercenary #lays #ambitions #ideological #army
MOSCOW, March 12 (Reuters) – The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force said in an interview published over the weekend that his personal military has ambitions to turn his company into an “ideological army” that will fight for justice in Russia.
Wagner’s boss Yevgeny Prigogine’s fighters – some of them convicts – have been fighting for months of Ukraine leading an attack in the east, they concentrated their efforts on the small city of Bakhmut, which Russia called Artyomovsk and considered a useful stepping stone to capture larger cities such as Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. .
“After Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) is captured, we will start working again,” Prigozhin said in a clip posted on Telegram channels about Wagner. In particular, we will start recruiting new personnel from the regions.”
“Wagner is special military grouping should be transformed from a simple, world’s best army, capable of defending the state, to an army with an ideology. And this ideology is a struggle for justice.”
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Prigogine said on Friday that Wagner had opened recruitment centers in 42 cities to boost its ranks after heavy losses in the battles for Bakhmut.
Nine years for burglary and street robbery in the 1980s imprisonment Prigozhin, a former convict serving his sentence, came out of the shadows and gained a high reputation after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
But his public profile, political his reputation and willingness to insult the military’s senior ranks and anyone in his path has angered some in the government who want him reined in.
Without explicit approval from the Kremlin political entering the sphere the president It is seen as a challenge to the system created by Vladimir Putin after he was elected as his successor by Boris Yeltsin in 1999.
Prigogine any political He has repeatedly denied that he has ambitions.
Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, +79856400243 Editing by Andrew Osborne
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-03-13 02:25:03
Source – reuters
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