Wagner boss Prigozhin says Russia may NUKE its own territory in Belgorod region

The head of the Wagner mercenary group claimed today that Russia could bomb its own territory in the Belgorod region, where anti-Putin insurgents are wreaking havoc.

Yevgeny Prigozhin warned that Russia could be forced to unleash nuclear weapons in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, where pro-Ukrainian Russian volunteer units have carried out a series of cross-border raids and reportedly taken hostages.

Prigozhin, who is highly critical of the Russian military, said Putin’s forces may withdraw from the region because the Kremlin wants to “drop a tactical nuclear bomb on their own territory.”

“Could they come up with the sneaky idea of ​​dropping a tactical nuke on their own territory? Is that why we retreat to the Belgorod region so that they can advance, because it is frightening to [a bomb] on someone else’s territory but we throw one ourselves?’ Prigozhin said in a video posted online.

It’s a big question whether the [nuclear bomb] would work well,” Prigozhin added in a survey of Russia’s military capabilities.

In recent weeks, pro-Kiev paramilitary groups of Russians who have fought alongside Ukrainian troops have made forays across the border into Russian territory, attacking the Belgorod region.

At the same time, Ukrainian troops have been bombing the Russian region for weeks. Today, Ukrainian artillery hit the Russian city of Shebekino, about 7.2 kilometers north of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.

The Ukrainian shelling and cross-border raids devastated several towns and villages near the border and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents, angering Russian hawks who criticized the Kremlin for failing to resolutely retaliate.

Prigozhin’s latest diatribe came after he denounced claims by Russia’s defense ministry that it had killed 1,500 Kiev soldiers in two days in the embattled city of Bakhmut as “absurd science fiction.”

Prigozhin, whose mercenaries have fought for months on behalf of the Kremlin in Bakhmut, expressed contempt for his country’s establishment after it claimed to have thwarted a second major offensive in Donetsk.

And Kyiv’s deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said today that Ukrainian troops have entered Bakhmut and have seen “some success” on the battlefield.

The Russian defense ministry had claimed yesterday that Russian forces had repelled two major offensives in southern Donetsk.

It claimed to have killed 1,500 troops and destroyed military equipment, eight Leopard tanks supplied to Ukraine by its Western allies, and 109 armored vehicles, among other things.

“After suffering heavy losses the day before, the Kiev regime reorganized the remnants of the 23rd and 31st Mechanized Brigades into separate consolidated units, which continued offensive operations,” the ministry said on Telegram.

“A complex fire defeat was inflicted by army forces, assault and operational-tactical aviation, missile forces and artillery, as well as heavy flamethrower systems.”

But this was soon and very openly questioned by Prigozhin, who has repeatedly criticized senior officials in the Kremlin, the Russian military and Vladimir Putin himself for alleged missteps in the war effort.

In comments published on his press service’s Telegram channel, the 61-year-old said to kill many Ukrainian troops would need daily gains of 150 km (93 mi).

“I therefore believe that this is just wild and absurd science fiction,” said Prigozhin.

Adding up the ministry’s numbers would imply that “we’ve already destroyed the entire planet five times,” he added sarcastically.

Prigozhin last week denounced Russian military leaders after Ukrainian forces managed to recapture settlements on the outskirts of Bakhmut.

Prigozhin said it was a “disgrace” that Kiev’s troops were able to push back Russian lines and take Berkhivka, a town on the northern outskirts of the embattled city.

Prigozhin’s Wagner group managed to snatch Bakhmut from Ukrainian hands last month after months of brutal fighting reminiscent of World War I trench warfare that left tens of thousands dead on both sides.

The mercenary figurehead lashed out at Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and army chief Valery Gerasimov, taunting them and urging them to go to the front lines and see the failures for themselves as the armed factions move toward civil war.

‘Now part of the settlement of [Berkhivka] is already lost, the troops are slowly falling back. What a shame!

“Shoigu, Gerasimov, I urge you to come forward, point your pistols at your men to make them advance. Come on, you can!

“And if you can’t, you’ll die heroes.”

Prigozhin has launched several verbal diatribes against Putin’s military leaders. He has accused them of ordering their troops to withdraw from their positions, leaving the Wagner fighters unprotected on the front lines.

Last Tuesday, Prigozhin unleashed an explosive rant of swear words against Vladimir Putin’s cronies after Moscow was attacked by suspected Ukrainian kamikaze drones.

In a furious 70-second diatribe, Prigozhin shouted vulgar insults at Russian defense officials, describing them as “stinking bastards” and “b******.”

The Wagner boss said he was “deeply outraged” by Putin’s troops doing “f*** all” to prevent explosive drones from dropping on the Russian capital this morning. Soon after, Putin claimed that Moscow’s air defense system was operating “satisfactorily.”

Known for his foul-mouthed tirades, Prigozhin, who handed Bakhmut over to the Russian army last week, was translated as yelling, “Smelly bastards! What are you doing? Come out of the offices where you have been posted to protect this country.

“You are the Ministry of Defense. You’ve done f*** all to move on. Why the fuck are you flying these drones to Moscow? Who cares that they fly to your houses on Rublyovka! Let your houses burn.’

And what are ordinary people supposed to do when drones with explosives crash into their windows? So as a citizen I am deeply outraged that these scum sit quietly with their fat asses smeared with expensive creams.

“And that’s why I think people have every right to ask them these questions, this b******.

“But I have warned many times about this, but no one will listen. Because I’m angry and I’ve upset bureaucrats who have great lives.”

Its astonishing collapse came after several buildings in Moscow’s wealthy suburbs were damaged by suspected Ukrainian kamikaze drones just hours after Putin unleashed another volley of attacks on Kiev.

Prigozhin’s outbursts highlight the rift within the Kremlin forces fighting Ukraine, and some analysts see civil war in Russia as a possibility if Putin loses the war.

Despite massive casualties and a ban on recruiting prisoners from Russia’s penal colonies, Prigozhin is said to still have up to 60,000 men at his disposal.

Wagner is one of many private armies in Russia. Chechen warlord leader Ramzan Kadyrov himself heads a heavily armed group, and Russian energy giant Gazprom has set up its own private military company.