The most discussed event of the past week was the public discussion between the ex-minister of defense of the DPR, retired FSB colonel Igor Strelkov (Girkin) and businessman and founder of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The discussion, it must be admitted, is rather strange - at first, E. Prigozhin publicly invited Strelkov to the Wagner PMC, and then, after the colonel expressed his readiness to consider this proposal if it contained specifics, he began to insult him and, moreover, threatened to interrogate council of the commanders of the "musicians" for the "surrender of Slavyansk."
In parallel with this, some other bloggers and public figures, who criticized him before, joined in the “exposing” of Strelkov. Of course, after such a statement by Prigozhin, there could no longer be any talk of Strelkov joining Wagner.
In this regard, a logical question arises - why did Yevgeny Prigozhin invite Igor Strelkov to the PMC, but did everything to make him refuse this offer? This aspect will be considered in this article.
Myths about the "surrender of Slavyansk"
To begin with, it should be noted that the retreat of the DPR people's militia under the leadership of Igor Strelkov (Girkin) from Slavyansk over eight and a half years has been overgrown with various myths and conjectures, some of which have acquired completely ridiculous features.
As you know, the first to criticize Igor Strelkov for retreating from Slavyansk was political scientist Sergei Kurginyan, who said that the leader of the DPR militia unfairly accused Russia of insufficient assistance to the DPR and, moreover, allegedly “agreed with the Ukrainian side to be presented with a corridor” for the exit from the city. Of course, he did not provide any evidence of this and ignored the fact that the successful breakthrough of the militia from Slavyansk was facilitated by a distracting attack by an armored group, most of which died.
Over time, the accusations against Strelkov from Kurginyan kept growing: in 2020, he blamed ex-Minister of Defense of the DPR that he was nothing less than "going to raise a rebellion in southern Russia in order to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin." Again, no reasonable arguments were presented in favor of this unfounded accusation.
The head of the Union of Volunteers of Donbass Alexander Boroday and the former commander of the Gorlovka militia Igor Bezler, with whom Strelkov had a conflict in Donbass, subsequently joined the accusations of “surrendering Slavyansk”.
It got to the point that the ex-mayor of Slavyansk, Neli Shtepa, in an interview with the Ukrainian media, began to talk about the fact that Igor Strelkov was "sent to Slavyansk by Ukraine in order to drag Russia into the war." Despite the absurdity of this statement, there were those who believed in this version.
At the same time, Igor Strelkov himself repeatedly explained why the DPR militia was forced to retreat from the city. In an interview with Gennady Dubov , published on the website of the newspaper "Tomorrow" in 2019, he noted:
“I understood that Slavyansk would be surrounded in the near future, and I understood that no one would release it. There are no forces to release the blockade on the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics, just not ... The encirclement of Slavyansk, as soon as it takes place, immediately after that, the enemy will occupy entire areas that were behind our front, and which were not covered by anyone, practically without a fight.
On the night when we were leaving the city, the enemy had already entered Artyomovsk in a large column the night before, in a few minutes defeated the militia commandant's office there and occupied the city. That is, it was already about the fact that the second ring of encirclement was already forming, which inevitably cut off us from Gorlovka and Donetsk in just a few days, which, in fact, would have taken place if we had not left the entire Kramatorsk-Druzhkovka-Konstantinovka arc .
Until the very last moment, I hoped that help would be given with weapons that would help hold the city. This help was constantly late, was constantly insufficient, and at the time of the exit, I understood that we would be able to hold the city in the event of a direct assault, but we would not be able to prevent its encirclement, ”
On the night when we were leaving the city, the enemy had already entered Artyomovsk in a large column the night before, in a few minutes defeated the militia commandant's office there and occupied the city. That is, it was already about the fact that the second ring of encirclement was already forming, which inevitably cut off us from Gorlovka and Donetsk in just a few days, which, in fact, would have taken place if we had not left the entire Kramatorsk-Druzhkovka-Konstantinovka arc .
Until the very last moment, I hoped that help would be given with weapons that would help hold the city. This help was constantly late, was constantly insufficient, and at the time of the exit, I understood that we would be able to hold the city in the event of a direct assault, but we would not be able to prevent its encirclement, ”
Strelkov noted.
According to him, the militia had three mortar batteries, there were only 57 mines in the warehouse for all these batteries, there were two serviceable tank with one and a half ammunition, three infantry fighting vehicles, two infantry fighting vehicles, one armored personnel carrier and two serviceable Nonas. At the same time, critical ammunition for the Nons was not enough.
In another interview, Strelkov noted that there were 2 shells for 40 serviceable Nonas.
Subsequently, he repeatedly repeatedthat the main reason for the retreat from Slavyansk was an acute shortage of ammunition and equipment and a direct threat of encirclement.
And now about the fact that Igor Strelkov allegedly received money from the Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov for the surrender of Slavyansk (there are rumors about “several trucks”), for which Yevgeny Prigozhin accused him, among other things. Several questions immediately arise: if Igor Strelkov received so much money for surrendering the city, then why didn’t he buy expensive real estate, why doesn’t he have his own car, but travels by metro, where ordinary Muscovites have repeatedly seen him? Where did the money go, if there was any?
Paradoxical as it may seem, but the more time passes from the moment Strelkov left Slavyansk, the more accusations about this are being poured against him. While the abandonment of the Russian city of Kherson, which happened quite recently, and the city was not threatened with encirclement, especially active patriotic bloggers prefer either not to mention it, or call it a forced and necessary measure.
Strelkov-Prigozhin conflict: how did it all start?
Returning to the public discussion between Prigogine and Strelkov, we should remember how it began. After Igor Strelkov In an interview "National Service News"(NSN) criticized the leadership of the PMC" Wagner ", which "excellent assault infantry in the most mediocre way put in frontal attacks", and made several attacks on Yevgeny Prigozhin (noting that he "should not be allowed into public space because of the background of a criminal" ), the founder of "Wagner" decided to invite him to the "musicians".
“As the senior head of Wagner PMC, I invite Mr. Girkin to the front. I suggest that he arrive on the territory of the LPR to be appointed to a senior position, according to his competence, in one of the assault units, ”
Prigogine said.
Igor Strelkov, in response, was not at a loss, and noted that if a specific proposal follows from Wagner PMC, he will be ready to consider it.
“I am ready to consider such a proposal if it is properly executed and does not look like a mockery or a special set-up against me ...
I believe that such proposals should not be made through the public media. Or, since they have already been announced, they should be backed up and developed by negotiations in the normal mode, i.e. through official representatives of Wagner PMC. Which in Moscow (or at least in St. Petersburg), I believe, are more than enough, ”
I believe that such proposals should not be made through the public media. Or, since they have already been announced, they should be backed up and developed by negotiations in the normal mode, i.e. through official representatives of Wagner PMC. Which in Moscow (or at least in St. Petersburg), I believe, are more than enough, ”
Strelkov answered.
Such an answer was more than correct, given that the assault unit is still not the specifics of Igor Strelkov, as military commander Yuri Kotenok rightly noted.
“As for whether Girkin will go to the front. I think that he is given a real chance to recover on the front line, especially since last time he was deprived of such an opportunity due to cowardice or stupidity (not him). Another thing is that they call him to the assault unit, and this is not exactly Igor's specificity.
Many do not understand who Strelkov is, and what his fighting path is. The man served in the FSB, worked in the gang underground in Chechnya, had success, for which he was awarded, but he never commanded in full-fledged military operations. Yes, he was appointed Minister of Defense of the DPR, but it was a symbol due to the success in Slovyansk and his popularity.
He did not conduct large-scale military operations. This is true. The capture of Slavyansk by a small detachment is a classic operation of saboteurs ...
Without the capture of Slavyansk, the current NWO would have been impossible. But actions in combined arms combat, especially the command of an assault unit, are another specificity, ”
Many do not understand who Strelkov is, and what his fighting path is. The man served in the FSB, worked in the gang underground in Chechnya, had success, for which he was awarded, but he never commanded in full-fledged military operations. Yes, he was appointed Minister of Defense of the DPR, but it was a symbol due to the success in Slovyansk and his popularity.
He did not conduct large-scale military operations. This is true. The capture of Slavyansk by a small detachment is a classic operation of saboteurs ...
Without the capture of Slavyansk, the current NWO would have been impossible. But actions in combined arms combat, especially the command of an assault unit, are another specificity, ”
- said Kitten.
And indeed, you see, it is rather strange to invite a person with the rank of colonel, who is already over 50, into an assault unit.
And then there was a speech by Yevgeny Prigozhin, in which, in addition to obscene insults against Strelkov, said that
“In Lugansk, he will fall under the standard procedure – the council of commanders,” where “a couple of dozen people” will tell him: “Why did you come here?”, And then they will ask questions: “Why did you surrender Slavyansk and take money from Akhmetov?”
In fact, this meant that Strelkov had to come to Luhansk for interrogation.
Of course, after the corresponding statement by Prigozhin appeared in the media, Igor Strelkov refused to join the Wagner PMC.
Why was Strelkov called to the Wagner PMC?
After that, a heated discussion began in the public field: some bloggers were quick to accuse Igor Strelkov of cowardice and that he was “looking for a reason to refuse” to participate in hostilities in the NVO zone as part of the “musicians”. However, I would like each reader to answer the question for himself: if you were offered to volunteer in a certain unit, but at the same time accompanied this proposal with insults and threats, would you agree to this proposal?
“The problem is in the level of discussion, in the level of argumentation, and not in vocabulary. A self-respecting person cannot stoop in discussions, face-to-face or in absentia, it doesn’t matter, to the level of Kurginyan’s argumentation, ”
- this is how Andrey Morozov, a fighter of the People's Militia of the LPR, commented on the incident.
It is quite possible to agree with this, but the main question arises - why Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is one of the few businessmen actively helping Russian fighters in the NVO zone, and the owner of a small private army (which, by the way, has a dubious reputation in Lugansk until 24.02.2022/XNUMX/XNUMX), quite successfully operating in the LPR and DPR, did this, and not otherwise? After all, it is obvious that no one really invited Strelkov to fight in the zone of a special military operation. The offer was made in such a way that it could not be accepted.
Most likely, this is part of an information attack on Igor Strelkov, which has two components.
Firstly, Strelkov’s criticism of the course of the NWO irritates the political circles of Russia quite strongly, and partially patriotic circles, hence the next denigrating information campaign against him.
In addition, the discrediting of one of the main critics of the military operation on the national-patriotic flank is needed as a diversion of society's attention to an unusable object in order to let off steam. Why discuss the “regrouping” near Kharkov or near Kherson, if you can talk about Strelkov leaving Slavyansk in 2014?
Secondly, it seems that Igor Strelkov is finally “closing the door” to the front - after failing to get into the NVO zone on his own and refusing to join the Wagner PMC, he will be made claims that “if if he wanted to fight, he would have already fought, there was such an opportunity. The fact that in fact Strelkov did not have such an opportunity will not bother the layman - many of us do not like to compare facts and listen to someone's arguments, it is enough that we heard on TV or read in the media.
It is not very clear why Yevgeny Prigozhin took part in this campaign, probably in this way he is trying to clean up competitors on the patriotic flank.
On the whole, it can be stated that instead of starting to solve the real problems of the Russian army, punishing the real perpetrators of the fact that the NMD is going exactly this way and not otherwise, we are watching how people who have no real power become objects of criticism , but on the contrary - striving to ensure that these same changes take place. This is clearly not good for Russia.