Russian army is retreating, Wagner boss claims in anti-war tirade

Ukraine’s counteroffensive is beating back Russia’s armed forces, the head of Russia’s notorious mercenary outfit, Wagner Group, declared in an explosive attack on his own allies.

Speaking to the camera in a video uploaded to Telegram on Friday, Yevgeny Prigozhin said “the Russian army is in retreat on the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson fronts,” adding that Kyiv’s troops are “pushing back the Russian army.”

At the same time, the outspoken billionaire questioned the Kremlin’s rationale for starting the war, admitting “the Armed Forces of Ukraine were not going to attack Russia with NATO.”

President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle have repeatedly claimed they began their offensive to prevent the country from being used as a launchpad for a Western-backed war on Russia itself, without presenting evidence to support the assertions.

In reality, Prigozhin went on, “the war was needed for a bunch of scumbags to triumph and show how strong of an army they are,” adding it was part of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s plan to secure a promotion. According to him, Shoigu is to blame for setbacks on the battlefield as a result of having “killed thousands of the most combat-ready Russian soldiers in the opening days of the war.”

The half-hour clip is the latest in a series of furious rows between the Wagner Group chief and Russia’s conventional armed forces. On Thursday, Prigozhin claimed Shoigu is hiding “colossal” failures in Ukraine from Putin himself. Meanwhile, the British Ministry of Defence said last week the feud between the pair was likely reaching a “key way-point” in a row over Moscow’s efforts to make mercenary fighters sign formal contracts.

Putin has previously claimed that his forces are effectively repelling a Ukrainian counteroffensive, insisting that Kyiv is “suffering serious losses, both in personnel and equipment.”

While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged the effort to take back occupied territory in the south and east of the country is slower than expected, the head of his ground forces told the Guardian on Friday that all was going to plan.

“Everyone wants to achieve a great victory instantly and at once,” Oleksandr Syrskyi said. “And so do we. But we have to be prepared to have this process take some time.”