- On Friday, Evgeny Prigozhin tried to overtake Russian forces after months of infighting.
- Military strategist Mick Ryan told insiders that whatever the outcome would be, it would wreak havoc on Russia.
- Ukraine could use it to its advantage, but “this is like no one can win,” he said.
According to one military strategist, the outcome of Evgeny Prigozhin’s attempt to gain more control over Ukraine, whether or not Wagner Group leaders will oust the Russian military leadership in an apparent failed coup that began Friday. It will bring chaos to the war.
Mick Ryan, a retired Australian Army Major General and Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Insider that exactly what was happening on the ground in Russia remained unclear, but “this is the kind of situation where no one wins. It’s-” he said. everyone loses something “
On Friday, the leader of the Wagner Mercenary Group issued a statement saying Russia’s “evil” Ministry of Defense “must be stopped.”Early field reports from Russian media Suggested that Wagner’s forces had captured the city of Rostov-on-Don.
Russia’s National Security Agency is proceeding with criminal proceedings in response to Prigozhin’s call for an “armed rebellion.”
The infighting between the mercenary leaders and the Russian military leadership came after Prigozhin’s months-long confrontation with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the treatment of Prigozhin’s hired troops.
“Prigogine is likely to be the biggest loser,” Ryan told an insider. “However, Putin and his entourage would appear to have not resorted to all the means of power that some Russian elites would expect. They will look forward to attacking and monitoring you.” The seeming chaos behind them and their country, whether real or not, causes deep unrest among Russia’s senior leaders. right. “
Ryan said the deep unease felt by the Russian military after hearing administration officials’ disdain for military leaders could be used to Ukraine’s advantage as it continues to fend off Russian aggression.
“There will be chaos at that level and the Ukrainians will obviously want to put pressure on the Russians in a tactical sense,” Ryan said. “Thus, the offensive will intensify, or at least we will see, if not yet, an attempt by Ukrainian forces to advance into the east and south.”
He said that even if reports of the coup were exaggerated, and that “even if you knew Russia, you could never know all the details,” Prigozhin’s statement was “at different levels of the Russian regime.” , will lead to more uncertainty and more confusion,” he added. physical reality on earth. “
“I think Prigogine has crossed some sort of Rubicon, perhaps this is where his tolerance for rants and military demands comes to an end,” Ryan told Insider. If I were him, I would never book or reserve a nursing home. “