Pro-Kremlin journalist Kostyantyn Dolgov was released a day after publishing a major interview with the founder and financier of Wagner’s mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin, Current Time reports. “Putin’s chef” criticized the Russian military leadership and claimed that Moscow failed to make the Ukrainian army one of the most powerful in the world.

Dolgov said that the termination of the contract with the pro-Kremlin media project Telega ONLINE was related to an interview in which Prigozhin said that Moscow’s plan to “demilitarize” Ukraine had failed, and that Russia’s invasion of the neighboring country had “failed.” made the Ukrainian army one of the strongest in the world.”

In the interview, Prigozhin also harshly criticized the Russian military, accusing them of unprofessionalism and corruption.

“Putin’s cook” even criticized the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Sergei Shoigu.

In an interview published on Tuesday, Prigozhin also noted that 20,000 mercenaries of the “Wagner” PMK died during the war in Ukraine, half of whom were former prisoners.

Dolgov claims that he was informed of his dismissal the next morning. “And they directly told me: I am fired because of the interview with Prigozhin,” he said.

Dolgov claims that Telega ONLINE received an order “from above” to fire him after “mysterious subscribers” took offense at Prigozhin’s statements, with whom they could not do anything, and decided to take revenge on the pro-Kremlin journalist.

Telega ONLINE claims that on May 7, Dolgov informed the editors that he was resigning and that, as he claims, there is no “voluntary dismissal”.

• “They could capture all of Belgorod” / The Kremlin says that it was liquidated, but the Russian “partisans” spoke at the press conference

“We *** ourselves in Kyiv and Kherson”

In an interview with pro-Kremlin strategist Konstantin Dolgov, published in Telegram, Yevgeny Prigozhin said: “We approached Kyiv, then, as they say in Russian, ran into each other, and I left. Then we disbanded and retreated to Kherson, then to Izyum, Liman… And somehow nothing came of it.”

Although it described the invasion as a “special military operation” in the Donbass and Luhansk regions, Russia attacked Kyiv from Belarus at the start of the invasion in February 2022.

However, Russia retreated in the face of strong Ukrainian resistance and then a counteroffensive that threatened to encircle its forces. Russian troops also withdrew from Izyum in September, which led to the discovery of mass graves, and Kherson in November.

Glory to the Ukrainian army

Prigozhin assessed the Ukrainian army as “one of the strongest armies”, adding: “They have a high level of organization, training and intelligence, they have various weapons.”

The leader of the “Wagner” mercenary group says that the Ukrainian military works with any military system, be it the USSR, NATO or other countries, and is equally successful.

“I am completely unmoved by the losses they suffered. Everything goes in the direction of achieving the final goal, as it was during the Great Patriotic War. But better organized,” says Prigozhin.

He also touched on the recent invasion of Belgorod, which he blamed on “saboteurs”: “Our defenses are not ready to defeat them in any way…”

Prigozhin says that there may be a revolution like in 1917

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Wagner’s mercenary group, has warned that Russia could face a 1917-style revolution and could lose the conflict in Ukraine if the country’s elites do not get seriously involved in the war, Reuters reports.

Ukraine will try to surround Bakhmut and advance on Crimea, he added.

“Most likely, this scenario will be unsuccessful for Russia, so we should prepare for a full-scale war,” he said in an interview published on his Telegram channel.

Prigozhin: “We can lose Russia to hell”

“We are in such a state that we can lose the hell out of Russia – that’s the main problem… We need to introduce martial law,” continued the leader of the Wagner group.

Prigozhin stated that his political vision is dominated by love for the country and service to Putin. He called the nickname “Putin’s cook” stupid because he can’t cook, joking that “Putin’s butcher” would be a more appropriate moniker.

He said Russia’s elite protected their own children from combat during the war, while the children of ordinary Russians died on the front lines, a situation he said could spark unrest in Russia.

If ordinary Russians continue to meet their children in zinc coffins while the children of the elite sunbathe abroad, he said, Russia will face upheavals similar to the 1917 revolutions that led to civil war.

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