The head of the Russian PMC “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin announced in a video message on Saturday that he will run in the presidential elections next year – but not in Russia, as temporarily assumed, but “in Ukraine”, DPA reports. .

Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the mercenaries of the Russian Wagner groupPhoto: AFP / AFP / Profimedia

Leader Wagner, who is 61 years old, is known for ridiculing his opponents.

In the same video published on his Telegram account, Prigozhin states that PMK “Wagner” needs 10,000 tons of ammunition per month for the battle for the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. He filmed the video on the roof of a building in a largely destroyed city, about 1.2 kilometers from the administrative center, which is held by Ukrainian forces.

Boss Wagner said that no one in Moscow should worry that they might have political ambitions, so they should supply the necessary amount of ammunition without reservation. Prigozhin estimated the monthly expenses at half a billion dollars.

The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported new advances by Russian troops in the city, which has been the scene of fierce fighting for the past eight months, EFE reports.

Chief Wagner repeats the Kremlin’s theses regarding the invasion of Ukraine. Prigozhin: “Why are we fighting? Our goal is simple”

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, says in a video released on Saturday that his fighters have a “simple” goal – to prevent Western governments from destroying Russia, allegedly echoing Vladimir Putin’s propaganda theses in terms in which the oligarch, entering into conflict with the armed forces of the state seem to be fighting for the favor of the Kremlin.

“What is our goal? Why do we fight? The goal is simple. Let’s not shame Russian weapons, let’s not embarrass Russia, let’s not bring Russia to the point where it collapses on its own,” Prigozhin said in a video message posted on Telegram, CNN reported, according to News.ro.

“Most likely, this is the goal of the American, British special services, which work for the long term and work to destroy Russia, in which the leader must continue to lose popularity, the army must become weaker and weaker until the Russians say: To hell with our conscience! Let us be led,” he continued, echoing the Kremlin narrative voiced by Vladimir Putin on February 21, that the war in Ukraine was actually an existential war, as the US and NATO aimed to destroy Russia as a state.