Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin goads West to kill him

The founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group challenged Western countries to try and kill him after France declared his private army a terrorist organization, with Britain soon expected to follow suit.

France’s National Assembly unanimously voted Tuesday to designate the Wagner Group a terrorist entity.

The non-binding resolution calls on the European Union to register the notoriously brutal paramilitary organization that has been leading the fight to capture the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine on the EU list of terrorist groups.

On Wednesday, the British government was on the verge of classifying the Wagner force as a terrorist organization, The Times of London reported.

The Home Office has been building a case against Wagner for two months and a formal ban on the organization, known as proscription, was due within weeks, a source told The Times.

Proscription means it would be a criminal offense in Britain to belong to or promote the group, arrange or address its meetings, and carry its logo in public.

Prigozhin, a catering mogul and ally of Vladimir Putin, addressed the actions being taken against Wagner by Western powers in an audio recording.

The notoriously outspoken mercenary boss said that he found the terrorist designations “extremely unpleasant,” and accused France and Britain of conspiring against Wagner.

“I’m very disappointed,” he said, before launching into a typical sarcasm-laden rant directed at Western countries.

“What do you need to do with an organization that you consider a terrorist group? You must destroy the leader of the organization, basically me, of course,” Prigozhin said.

“So if your security services get in touch with me, I will provide a certain amount of advice on how to do that.”

On a more serious note, Prigozhin argued that Wagner should not be designated as a terrorist group because it abides by Russia’s laws and acts on behalf of Putin’s government.

Benjamin Haddad, a French MP who co-authored the resolution blacklisting the Wagner Group, accused Prigozhin’s mercenaries of committing atrocities around the world for money and political gain.

“They kill and torture. They massacre and pillage. They intimidate and manipulate with almost total impunity,” Haddad said.

The French politician argued that Wagner’s goal is to destabilize democratic institutions in order to promote Putin’s agenda.

The UK sanctioned the Wagner Group in March 2022. Although there is no evidence that its fighters are currently operating in Britain, there had been “suspicions” that the paramilitary group helped move cash out of the UK on behalf of sanctioned oligarchs and even Putin himself.

Prigozhin has been openly feuding with Russia’s top military brass for months, accusing Defense Secretary Sergei Shoigu and other high-ranking Kremlin officials of “starving” his fighters of ammunition.  

Last week, he vowed to pull his ammo-deprived Wagner mercenaries out of Bakhmut by Wednesday to preserve their lives before backpaddling, and then again threatening to leave.

On Wednesday, Prigozhin complained that despite pledges from the defense ministry, his fighters still were not getting enough ammunition as promised.

“We’re not receiving enough shells, we’re only getting 10% (of what we need),” Prigozhin said in the statement. “We’re scraping by with a minimal quantity of shells,” he said.

While Prigozhin continued squabbling with the Kremlin over ammo, a Ukrainian army unit said it had defeated a Russian infantry brigade near Bakhmut.

The claim echoed Prigozhin’s comments that Russia’s regular forces had ditched their positions on the southwestern outskirts of the battle-ravaged city.

“Our army is fleeing. The 72nd Brigade pissed away three square kilometers (1.1 square miles) this morning, where I had lost around 500 men,” Prigozhin lamented.

In a statement overnight, Ukraine’s Third Separate Assault Brigade said: “It’s official. Prigozhin’s report about the flight of Russia’s 72nd Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade from near Bakhmut and the ‘500 corpses’ of Russians left behind is true.”

“The Third Assault Brigade is grateful for the publicity about our success at the front.”

With Post wires