Moscow, April 16, (dpa/GNA) - The head of Russian mercenary group Wagner has caused a stir with a blog post about a possible end to the war in Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelensky encouraged his compatriots to keep on believing in victory in his Orthodox Easter message.
Many Ukrainian media outlets on Sunday picked up on the text by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, which reads: “For state power and for society today it is necessary to put a thick fullstop behind the special military operation.”
Even after more than a year of war, Russia still refers to its invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation.”
Prigozhin, whose blog post was published on Friday but has only now come to light, added: “The ideal variant would be to announce the end of the special military operation and declare that Russia has achieved all of its planned goals – and in some respects we really have achieved them.”
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year but was driven back from capital Kiev and other cities. They occupy large areas in the east and south having already annexed Crimea in 2014. A land bridge through Ukrainian territory now connects the Crimean peninsula with Russia.
“For Russia, there is always a risk that the situation on the front can deteriorate after the start of the counteroffensive,” added the 61-year-old, whose mercenaries are currently fighting mainly for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
Experts expect a Ukrainian offensive in the coming weeks after a flow of Western weapons and Ukraine’s Zelensky was in confident mood on Sunday.
“The war could not erase us, our values, our traditions and our holidays,” he said in a video.
“Today we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. The main symbol is victory: the victory of good, the victory of truth, the victory of life. We celebrate Easter with an unshakeable faith in the irreversibility of these victories.”
Zelensky said that a year ago, just after Russia’s invasion, prayers were being said for Ukraine to survive at all.
“Today we pray that Ukraine wins,” he added. “We have already come a long way. Perhaps the most difficult mountain is still ahead of us. We will overcome it. And together we will meet our dawn.”
Referring to areas occupied by Russia, he said: “The sun will shine in the south, the sun will shine in the east, the sun will shine in Crimea. The yellow glowing sun in a peaceful blue sky – it will be the light of justice.”
In his own message, Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded the Orthodox Church on the second Easter since his invasion of Ukraine.
He attended a service early Sunday in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour together with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill. Videos showed Putin and Sobyanin standing side by side with candles in their hands. Kirill also presented Putin with a decorated Easter egg.
Putin praised the Russian Orthodox Church for its “active commitment to mercy and charity in the face of serious challenges” – seen as a nod to the war in Ukraine and Western sanctions on Russia.
“The wonderful, beloved Easter gives hope to believers, inspires good thoughts and deeds, and serves to reaffirm high moral ideals and values in society,” added the 70-year-old, who is facing an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
The Kremlin’s current watered-down aims include the complete conquest of the four Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson. Any hope of taking the entire country seems now to be lost.
Despite the Orthodox Easter holiday, fighting continued in Ukraine on Sunday, with Russian shelling killing two teenagers in the southern region of Mykolayiv during the night, military Governor Vitaly Kim said.
In the Zaporizhzhya region, the head of the military administration, Yuri Malashko, also reported a “massive attack” by the Russian side. A church was damaged, for example, so that the service had to be cancelled. “Nothing is sacred, even on the night of Christ’s resurrection,” Malashko wrote.
Meanwhile, in the eastern city of Sloviansk, where a rocket hit a residential area on Friday, rescue work continued. Residents were still missing in the rubble, local sources said.
According to the latest information, 11 civilians were killed in the attack, including a small child. More than 20 other people were injured.
GNA