Former FSB agent and right-wing nationalist Igor Girkin, on his Telegram channel, stated that Evgeny Prigozhin is a military criminal and called for his immediate removal from the leadership of Wagner. Girkin added that Wagner has little influence on the situation on the battlefield.
Girkin, also known as Igor Ivanovich Strelkov, is one of the main pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. He was convicted a few months ago for his involvement in the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014.
“Girkin claims that Prigozhin’s announcements that the front will fail without Wagner are an example of ‘shameless criminal self-promotion’,” Strelkov said, adding that he believes the video in which Moscow is called out for the lack of ammunition was made two weeks ago.
Strelkov further argues that Wagner’s influence on events on the battlefield was actually quite small. He says that the battle they are waging for a relatively small town in the Donbas, referring to Bakhmut, is not so important militarily. Apart from not being decisive for the course of the war, it “causes huge losses of fighters,” he writes. All of this, Strelkov adds, gives Ukraine time. In another post, he touches upon Prigozhin as well.
“And a little more about Wagner. In my opinion, Wagner cannot withdraw from the front or be disbanded after the attack on Bakhmut. The unit needs to be reorganized to be used successfully in the future. However, Prigozhin needs to be completely removed from the head of Wagner,” he adds.
Strelkov writes that Prigozhin’s political ambitions have only hurt Wagner. Moreover, Strelkov writes that Prigozhin is a mentally unstable person and a military criminal.
