Yevgeny Prigozhin said Wednesday morning that if Western governments consider his Wagner Group terrorists then their obvious next step should be to try and kill him.
On Tuesday, France’s National Assembly unanimously voted to formally designate Wagner a terrorist entity, with the resolution calling on the European Union as a whole to follow suit. Then on Wednesday morning, The Times reported that Britain was similarly set to declare the mercenary force a terrorist organization, with a U.K. government source telling the newspaper that the declaration is “imminent” and could be enacted within weeks.
When contacted by The Daily Beast about the British plan—which would see Wagner viewed in the same light in the U.K. as groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda—Prigozhin gave a typically trolling reply in the form of voice notes shared on Telegram.
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Prigozhin quipped that he found it “extremely unpleasant” that the leaders of France and Britain had united to “conspire” against Wagner. “I’m very disappointed,” he said, before going on to offer his own “advice” to Western leaders.
“What do you need to do with an organization that you consider a terrorist group? You must destroy the leader of the organization, basically me, of course,” Prigozhin said. “So if your security services get in touch with me, I will provide a certain amount of advice on how to do that.”
Separately, he said Wagner should not be deemed a terrorist group because, according to him, they abide by the laws of the Russian Federation and are acting on behalf of the government.
He claimed the group is “saving people from terrorism” and fighting against Ukraine just like the regular Russian army, albeit “in some cases more effectively.” He went on to say the push to designate Wagner a terrorist group was part of a “hype” campaign in the West.
On Tuesday, French lawmaker Benjamin Haddad accused Wagner of spreading “instability and violence” wherever they operate. “They kill and torture. They massacre and pillage. They intimidate and manipulate with almost total impunity,” Haddad said. He added that the group is not solely motivated by an “appetite for money” but a broader strategy “from Mali to Ukraine of supporting the aggressive policies of President [Vladimir] Putin’s regime towards our democracies.”
If the EU does list Wagner as a terrorist group, member states would be empowered to freeze Wagner’s assets and prohibit European countries from dealing with the organization, according to the Guardian. Britain would likewise be able to impose financial sanctions on Wagner and prevent its courts from being used by the group to attack campaigners and journalists if the U.K.’s terrorist designation comes to fruition.
Prigozhin previously used the British legal system to bring a libel case against Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins after the website reported on Wagner’s operations, though the case fell apart last March.
The mercenary leader’s comments come at a time of heightened tensions between Wagner and Russia’s military commanders over supply issues affecting the conflict in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
Prigozhin last week said he would withdraw his recruits from the city as, without adequate weapons and ammunition being provided by Moscow, they were being sent to a “senseless death.” He later recanted on the withdrawal threat, but on Tuesday renewed his criticism of Russian military officials who he accused of “treason” and called the “main enemy” of Russia ahead of Ukraine itself.
