Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told FNC’s “Sunday Morning Futures” this week that he did not think this was the last of the story regarding an apparent ditched rebellion by the Wagner group against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to McCaul, Wagner group Yevgeny Prigozhin exposed Putin’s vulnerabilities, and his defection to Belarus could impact a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
“It was an insurrection,” he said. “Prigozhin is the head leader of the Wagner Group, the mercenary group that Putin has worked with. They’re the fiercest fighters. They have actually — the only ones that have won the battle, like in Bakhmut. They were going to put them under the Ministry of Defense. The Ministry of Defense has been basically at war with Wagner. Prigozhin — Prigozhin didn’t like that. So what happened was a march to Moscow. And at the very last minute, Belarus brokered a deal where they would stand down, and Prigozhin would go to Belarus in exile.”
“But I don’t think that’s the last of the story,” McCaul added. “But I think what’s most interesting, Maria, is that he’s in control of 50,000 of some of the fiercest thugs on the ground. And I think this will have a real impact on the fighting as Ukraine conducts its counteroffensive against the Russians.’
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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