As he claimed victory in the battle for Bakhmut, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner private military company (PMC), gave another of his firebrand interviews. He lambasted, in unequivocal terms, the Russian minister of defence and his chief of staff, Russia’s “deep state” – namely, the presidential administration and the “quasi-defence” establishment – and the elites who shield their sons from the battlefronts.
He revealed that he does not understand what the war in Ukraine is fought for, but “as long as there is a fight, we have to fight it well” – even though he added that the long war to come would take a huge toll. In this, Prigozhin spoke the bitter truth – which begs the question how he manages to get away with it, when others are being handed jail terms for far milder criticisms.
The answer is that he reflects the views of a significant segment of Russian society. These people are pro-war, but critical of the way it is fought, and gutted by the corruption and incompetence that have cost army lives. This anti-elite but “patriotic” sentiment is shared by those who, under certain circumstances, can act politically and, if necessary, forcefully, empowering Prigozhin with a sense of a popular resonance.
