For the first time since the failed uprising, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has made a public appearance in a video. Photo/Marca
MOSCOW – A video that seems to show the founder Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin greeting his fighters in Belarus appeared on Wednesday (19/7/2023). It was his first public appearance since he led an armed uprising in Russia last month.
“Welcome, comrades! I am happy to greet you all. Welcome to Belarusian soil! We fought with dignity! We have done a lot for Russia,” said a man who looks and sounds like Prigozhin in the video, which was posted on the Telegram channel pro-Wagner and later shared on Prigozhin’s account as quoted from CNN.
In the video, a fighter appears to address the Wagner leader as “Yevgeny Viktorovich,” Prigozhin’s first name and nickname. The video appears unedited and metadata on the file indicates it was shot in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The video is grainy and filmed in such low light that CNN can’t definitively say the speaker was Prigozhin or when it was filmed. CNN is working to get the geolocation of the footage.
In the video, the Wagner leader criticizes the planning and execution of the Russian Defense Ministry’s military operations in Ukraine, and advises against fighting in Ukraine for the time being.
“What is happening now on the front is a disgrace that we don’t need to follow. We have to wait for the moment when we can fully prove ourselves,” said Prigozhin.
“Therefore the decision was taken for us to be stationed here in Belarus for some time. I am sure that during this time we will make the Belarusian army the second largest in the world. And if necessary, we will defend them if necessary,” he said.
“I would like to ask everyone to pay close attention to the fact that the Belarusian people welcome us not only as heroes, but also as brothers,” he added.
2023-07-19 15:14:03
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