Prigozhin’s crazy theory: could Russia drop an atomic bomb on Belgorod?

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The feud between the Wagner Group and the Russian Ministry of Defense has reached unprecedented proportions, the British Ministry of Defense noted in its daily briefing on the situation in Ukraine on Tuesday. As if to reinforce the British assessment, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin (62) struck twice against the Russian military leadership.

Prigozhin finds Russian statements about “huge losses” in the Ukrainian army implausible. Statements from the Russian Defense Ministry that the army has killed a total of “1,500 soldiers” and destroyed more than 28 armored vehicles in repulsing a Ukrainian offensive are “wild fantasies,” the head of the Russian mercenary group said in the newspaper on Tuesday. online service Telegram. “Annihilation of one and a half thousand people in just one day (…) would be such a carnage,” Prigozhin explained – adding that he considered the information from Moscow unrealistic.

On Monday, Prigozhin said Ukrainian troops had advanced and recaptured areas near the long-disputed and now-devastated city of Bakhmut. The Russian troops now “slowly” left the village of Berkhivka near Bakhmut. That was “a pity,” said Prigozhin. Last month, Russia declared it had taken Bakhmut.

Prigozhin criticizes military leadership

A little later, the mercenary leader added: he was afraid that the Russian authorities would have the “stupid idea” to carry out a nuclear attack on the Russian border region of Belgorod. ‘Isn’t that why we retreat to Belgorod and them (note from the editor of the Ukrainians) advancing because it’s scary to drop bombs on someone else’s territory, but we can drop them on our own,’ Prigozhin mused. This can happen, for example, if the Ukrainian army takes a village in the region.

He then repeated his threat to defend Belgorod without an order from the Kremlin and gave the Ministry of Defense two weeks to evacuate Belgorod.

He further scoffed that the Ministry of Defense could also move to Belgorod. “If we die, then all together,” said the Wagner boss. Belgorod made headlines in recent days because pro-Ukrainian fighters there attacked the Russians on their own soil. Several people were killed and dozens of homes were destroyed. Women and children had to flee their homes. The city is the economic and administrative center of the oblast with the same name and has about 350,000 inhabitants.

Prigozhin has been criticizing the state of the Russian army for months, accusing the Ministry of Defense in Moscow and the Army General Staff of a lack of support and the resulting higher casualty rate in his group of mercenaries. For example, he denounced a lack of ammunition.

Zelensky: “Well done, warrior!”

Meanwhile, Russian air strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kiev took place again on Tuesday evening. According to the information, the air defense destroyed more than 20 projectiles. No injuries were reported. Falling debris damaged sidewalks, trolleybus power lines and shop windows in one district, according to the local government.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (45) praised his troops for the advance at Bakhmut. “Well done, warrior! We see how hysterically Russia reacts to every step we take there,” he said in a video posted to the online networks on Monday. (AFP/nad)

Source: Blick