The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner said in an interview that it may take two years for Moscow to fully control two regions in eastern Ukraine, the capture of which has been declared a key goal of the war, Reuters reports.

Yevgeny Prigozhin said that as far as he understood, Moscow’s plan was to take full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which Moscow last year declared “republics” of the Russian Federation, which was condemned as illegal by most UN countries.

“So far, everyone will be satisfied”

“As I understand it, we need to get the republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, and that’s basically what everyone is happy with so far,” he told Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, according to a video released Friday.

According to him, it can take from one and a half to two years.

“If we are to reach the Dnieper, it will take about three years,” Prigozhin added, referring to a larger area that would extend to the huge river that runs from north to south, roughly dividing Ukraine in two.

Leader Wagner’s statements are an important revelation about Russian expectations about the likely duration of the conflict, especially from one whose private army is at the center of some of the fiercest fighting.

Yevhen Prigozhin claims that he has “zero” political ambitions

Prigozhin does not speak on behalf of the Russian military, but has become a prominent public figure in recent months, notably criticizing the army’s leadership for failings during the nearly 12-month war.

However, in an interview, he insisted that he had “zero” political ambitions.

In the interview, Prigozhin refrained from further attacks on the Russian military leadership, looking straight into the camera to emphasize that he was not criticizing anyone.

But he said it was important for the high command to understand the plight of people on the front lines.

“So if the general went into the trenches and talked to the soldiers, the soldiers, frankly, in the current situation, they would be just amazed and very pleased. This will be enough for them to understand that they are not alone with their problems,” he said.

According to United States estimates, Wagner currently has about 50,000 people in Ukraine, including 10,000 under contract and 40,000 convicts recruited from Russian prisons.