Putin ally appears to praise Ukraine's Zelensky
Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the founder of the Wagner private military group, has praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a strong and confident leader who should not be underestimated. His comments underlined Prigozhin's rising public profile and growing confidence in speaking out on sensitive issues around the war in Ukraine in defiance of the standard Moscow line. "Although he is the president of a country hostile to Russia at the moment, Zelensky is a strong, confident, pragmatic and nice guy," Prigozhin said in a statement shared on the Vkontatke social media platform by the press service of his Concord catering firm. "Don't underestimate him," Prigozhin said in a second statement, after he was asked why he was heaping praise on a man that Moscow has largely criticised, belittled and attacked since he came to power in 2019. Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya said it was interesting that Prigozhin was voicing a view far removed from Putin's that others in the ruling elite might not dare to express. "Prigozhin dared. He thinks he has a right and he thinks it wouldn't anger Putin," she said. Prigozhin has made a series of outspoken interventions in recent weeks, joining with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in ridiculing the performance of Russia's generals in Ukraine. Last month he publicly confirmed for the first time that he was the founder of Wagner, a private military group he has deployed to fight in Syria, Africa and Ukraine. The United States and European Union have sanctioned Prigozhin for his role in the group. Stanovaya said Prigozhin was not angling for a formal power role. "I think that for him it’s more like a 'business project' that he needs to 'sell' to Putin to be closer tied to the Kremlin," she said. "He would avoid any real official responsibility, it’s more comfortable to remain in the in-between space, between the state and non-official status." Prigozhin's comments on Zelensky are in stark contrast to the characterisation of the Ukrainian leader that Putin and other senior officials have peddled. (Reuters)