Prigozhin resembles Winnie the Pooh

I am observing Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the notorious private military company Wagner, closely, as he attempts to elevate his own position in the aftermath of the significant losses his organization suffered in battles near Bakhmut.

His latest move is to announce his intention to run in the 2024 Ukrainian presidential elections, but this empty gesture is completely transparent. In many ways, Prigozhin's actions are reminiscent of Winnie the Pooh as rendered in the Soviet cartoon version, who uses a balloon to try and reach a hive full of honey.

On March 14 in Melitopol, the Security Service targeted Prigozhin by killing Ivan Tkach, a local collaborator, in an SUV blast. Tkach had been involved in transporting both Russian soldiers and Wagner Group mercenaries.

Now he has turned into a VIP agitator for Prigozhin from beyond the grave. 

“Currently, Prigozhin is in a precarious position, caught between facing a trial in Ukraine as an organizer of mercenaries or being targeted for assassination by Russian security forces, with whom he frequently clashes”

Currently, Prigozhin is in a precarious position, caught between facing a trial in Ukraine as an organizer of mercenaries or being targeted for assassination by Russian security forces, with whom he frequently clashes. It's unclear which outcome would be more favorable for the former criminal who never managed to gain respectability. However, it's clear that he is merely a temporary figure in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

Source

About the author. Evheniy Mahda, political scientist

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.