In a recent statement, mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin threatens Russian officials and accuses them of treason.
Is Putin's cook now going too far?
MOSCOW – Hardly anyone in Russia dares to criticize the decisions of Vladimir Putin's regime in a clear and public way like Yevgeny Prigozhin does.
The head of the "Wagner" mercenaries has not been stingy with verbal blunders in recent months and has rarely left a good hair on the Russian military leadership in the Ukraine war.
Putin's cook has recently publicly claimed that it was his mercenaries who took the city of Soledar to thank for it - and not the Russian army.
Prigozhin rumbles again against Russian officials – and calls for a ban on YouTubers
The latest comments from the boss of the mercenary are also tough.
Prigozhin issued a statement via his press service on Wednesday, in which he once again openly attacked the Russian power elite.
The trigger for Prigozhin's statements was extremely banal.
The 61-year-old was probably annoyed that Russia had not blocked the YouTube video platform – as he had suggested.
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Yevgeny Prigozhin is the founder and chief of the Russian private army Wagner.
© Uncredited/AP/dpa
Prigozhin called the platform from the US tech giant Google the “information plague of our time”.
According to him, people from the Russian President's orbit are responsible for the fact that YouTube is still online in Russia.
According to Prigozhin, the “main reason” that the platform has not yet been shut down is “a large number of people on Staraya Square in the presidential administration”.
They would only think of one thing: "The sooner Russia loses the war, the sooner the Americans will come and regulate us."
Putin's cook threatens alleged traitors in the Kremlin "Wagner's sledgehammer" is waiting for them
According to the mercenary boss, these Russian officials are just waiting for them to “kneel before Uncle Sam.” These individuals are pretending to be taking part in the war against Ukraine.
But in reality they would be actively working against Russia.
If Russia were to actually lose the war because of these people, the US would not take them, the mercenary boss predicts.
"And then come to us, where Wagner's sledgehammer is already waiting for you," was Prigozhin's clear threat.
The formulation of Putin's cook is a reference to a video released last year.
This is supposed to show the murder of a renegade Wagner mercenary with a sledgehammer.
The recordings caused outrage after they were released.
Prigozhin himself only commented on the recordings with a cynical comment.
The man "didn't find happiness in the Ukraine," according to the Wagner boss.
Kremlin propagandist Mardan worried about Prigozhin - 'out of control'
In his statement, Prigozhin continued to call for the platform to be banned.
"Those who actively use YouTube will be identified and will face a well-deserved punishment after the ban," he said.
Pictures of the Ukraine war: great horror and small moments of happiness
Pictures of the Ukraine war: great horror and small moments of happiness
The open confrontation course with members of the Kremlin seems to be too much for the Russian media world as well.
"Evgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin is out of control," propagandist Sergey Mardan wrote in response to the latest statement.
Compared to Putin's cook, the imprisoned opposition politician and Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny looks like a "puppy."
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