By Matthew Roscoe • Updated: 11 Oct 2022 • 10:21
Image of a private army badge on a soldier. Credit: Bumble Dee/Shutterstock.com
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the oligarch known as ‘Putin’s chef’, who recently admitted to being the man behind the infamous Wagner mercenary group, urged Russian MPs to join the ranks of the private military company (PMC) “Wagner” and go to the front line in Ukraine.
The Wagner Group – a network of mercenaries and a de facto private army of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin – have been a side story to the war so far in Ukraine so far, however, the group has been rising to prominence since Putin’s reign has come into question.
“Those people who have been talking from tribunes for years need to start doing something,” Prigozhin said in comments published by the press service of Concord in VKontakte.
“Where are those united Communists from the CPRF, where is the LDPR, which fights for Russia, which left without Zhirinovsky, we can all see, has turned into a ‘clown show.'”
Prigozhin called the parliamentarians “useless” and said that the “deputies should go to the front”.
Singling out Vitaly Milonov and Nikolay Valuev, the Prigozhin added: “Mr. ‘talkers’ I urge to get together in a bunch and head units like the Wagner PMC. And those who do not have organisational skills, take up machine guns or at least a sapper blade.”
In fact, on October 2, Russia’s State Duma said it would prepare a draft law which would allow MPs to be drafted into the Russian military “if they want to take part in special operations in Ukraine”, Vitaliy Milonov told Russian news outlet RIA Novosti at the time.
According to Milonov, the legislation currently excludes MPs from the list of those subject to be drafted into the Russian military, which creates problems for those who want to volunteer as MPs may be subjected to sanctions for missing meetings.
On Thursday, Septmber 22, it was reported that the Wagner Group financier was reportedly beginning to close in on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s role just hours after Russia’s partial military draft was announced.
Video footage of Wagner Group financier Prigozhin taking over Putin’s role was shared on Twitter by Bulgarian journalist Christo Grozev at the time, alongside the caption: “Prigozhin continues leaking videos of him in commander-in-chief role (on this one, doing that 3 am meeting your commanders thing.”
“Wagnerites tell me they’d vote for him over Putin any time, and it seems to me he smells blood.”
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Originally from the UK, Matthew is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.
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