![]() “I was lucky to come out alive, with a light wound.” “We were simply annihilated,” said Gabidulin, who described his four years with Wagner in two published books. “Americans thought differently.”Ī United States-led coalition attacked the unit and the Syrian servicemen they backed with planes and artillery, killing hundreds. ![]() “He decided that everything would go smoothly,” Marat Gabidulin, who led a Wagner unit in the Februbattle, told Al Jazeera. His step eventually led to the first armed clash involving Russian and US nationals since the Cold War’s end. In February 2018, he gave Wagner mercenaries fighting for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s army an order to seize a natural gas plant in the Kurdish-controlled part of eastern Syria. “Bulldozing” may be an appropriate term to describe Prigozhin’s managerial style. “At the same time, by accumulating the discontent, he will bulldoze liberal opposition to political sidelines.” ‘Totalitarian’ decisions “In a lighter version, management, he must lead the radical part of the public unhappy about the war’s outcome and lead manageable opposition to power,” he said. “The hard version is the case of Times of Trouble 2.0, when all official power institutions such as the army and police fold, can head a volunteer army,” he told Al Jazeera. There are two possible scenarios, says Kyiv-based analyst Aleksey Kushch. To some outside observers, Prigozhin’s transformation may be part of the Kremlin’s power transfer plan in case of a collapse similar to the “Times of Trouble” between the death of Czar Ivan the Terrible and the ascension of the Romanov dynasty four centuries ago. In late May, the once shadowy, secretive figure toured Russia and gave four press conferences. Prigozhin also said that after losing tens of thousands of mercenaries in eastern Ukraine, his Wagner Group will have to recruit more people and “transform into an army with an ideology”. Such a law would be similar to Stalin’s WWII policies. “Comrade Stalin was absolutely right,” Prigozhin said in May, touting the death penalty for servicemen and officials who “fail” to support the faltering war effort. Polls show that he became a recognisable public figure and staked out a political niche among conservative Russians who revere Soviet leader Josef Stalin and want to win the war in Ukraine no matter what. He spent most of the 1980s in Soviet jails after being found guilty of armed robbery and recruiting children into a gang.īut more than 30 years later, Prigozhin has stepped out of the shadows, right into the limelight of Russian politics. Keep reading list of 2 items list 1 of 2 Wagner boss blasts Russia’s elite following Moscow drone attack list 2 of 2 ‘Wild fantasies’: Wagner boss tears into Russian success claims end of list
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |