Ukraine is preparing a counteroffensive aimed at pushing Russian troops back to the borders that existed before 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, Prigozhin noted. Ukraine will try to encircle Bakhmut and attack Crimea, he added.

“Most likely, this scenario will not be good for Russia, so we need to prepare for a difficult war,” he stressed in an interview posted on his channel on the Telegram app.

“We’re in such a situation that we could f… lose Russia – that’s the main problem (…) We need to impose martial law,” he continued.

Prigozhin also stated that his political views are dominated by love for the country and serving Putin. His nickname “Putin’s chef” is dumb, he added, because he can’t cook, but, he added, the nickname “Putin’s butcher” could be much more apt.

Russia’s elite, he continued, are protecting their own children from the war, while the children of ordinary Russians are being lost at the front, and this situation could cause unrest in Russia.

If ordinary Russians continue to take their children back in tin coffins while the children of the elite bask abroad, he concluded, Russia will face upheaval like the 1917 revolutions that led to civil war.