Yevgeny Prigozhin a ‘useful monster in Russia: Ukraine official

Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin is a “vile” — but useful — “monster,” a Ukrainian official said Saturday as the armed mutiny on the Kremlin unfolded.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, wrote on Twitter that his country “has become a few steps closer to complete Victory over Russia and complete return of its territories, including Crimea.”

He then described Prigozhin, who heads the private military contractor Wagner Group as a  “vile, but useful in this case monster.”

“In fact, this is a rebellion … against Putin himself, whose place Prigozhin has long wanted to take and create his own regime in Russia,” he added.

Dmytro Kuleba, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said on Twitter, “Those who said Russia was too strong to lose: look now.”

“Time to abandon false neutrality and fear of escalation; give Ukraine all the needed weapons; forget about friendship or business with Russia. Time to put an end to the evil everyone despised but was too afraid to tear down” added Kuleba.

Oleksiy Danilov, the head of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, tweeted, “As the war began, so it will end — inside Russia. The process has begun …”

Earlier Saturday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the armed mutiny highlights Russia’s “full-scale weakness, adding “no lie can hide” the “chaos” there.

Meanwhile, Ukraine claimed Saturday it has taken back territory in the east that has been held by Russia since it annexed Crimea in 2014, CNN reported.

Ukrainian forces captured “territories near Krasnohorivka in Donetsk” and are continuing to advance, state media Ukrinform reported, citing military officials in Tavria in southeastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces allege they seized the area prior to the Wagner insurrection – yet only announced it Saturday.