Russian ultranationalist Igor Girkin, in one of his increasingly critical videos, accused Wagner founder and chief Yevgeny Prigozhin of being “a project” propped up by an influential group within Putin’s inner circle.
The accusation comes on the heels of news that Prigozhin had been in contact with Ukrainian military intelligence and offered to reveal the positions of Russian troops in exchange for their withdrawal from Bakhmut.
Girkin even went so far as to say Prigozhin was “not Russian by nationality,” insinuating that like the “majority of Bolsheviks,” he was of Jewish origin and posed a threat to Russia.
Also known as “Strelkov,” Girkin is a former officer in the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence. He came to prominence in Ukraine as one of the operatives behind Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea. In the wake of Crimea’s annexation, he led the Russian attempt to establish a Nova Rossiya (New Russia) from Kharkiv to Odesa.
“The threat is great,” Girkin said. “There are very serious forces behind Prigozhin. According to some of my informants, [Sergey] Kiriyenko, is directly behind him.”
Kiriyenko, Vladimir Putin’s Deputy Chief of Staff, oversees the occupied Ukrainian lands and controls the entire process of formation of Russia’s modern “elite,” according a ZN,UA news analysis. Kiriyenko’s influence has grown over the year since the full-scale invasion began, and now he is an independent figure.
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“And Kiriyenko is backed by the Kovalchuk brothers, people who are part of the President’s inner circle,” Girkin added, referring to Yury and Mikhail Kovalchuk, both of whom are considered Putin’s “personal bankers.” Yury Kovalchuk is the chairman and the largest shareholder of Rossiya Bank.
Kovalchuk’s group, which strongly promoted the idea of invading Ukraine, ZN,UA estimates, has been strengthened over the past year.
They have been “transformed into the Kovalchuk-Kiriyenko group, which includes the chairman of the government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin, the Secretary of the General Council of United Russia Andriy Turchak, the owner of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin and others.”
Girkin describes Prigozhin as “not just a man whose eyes were suddenly opened and began speaking the truth,” but as someone “they are making a project of.”
Elaborating on the Kremlin intrigues, Girkin said: “Kiriyenko is openly at war with [Defense Minister Sergei] Shoigu, which is why Prigozhin attacks the Defense Ministry.”
Girkin also put into question Prigozhin’s Russian nationality, which in Russia has historically been a scarcely veiled accusation of being Jewish.
“Who is Prigozhin?” Girkin asked rhetorically. “Is he Russian? He is not a Russian person. He isn’t even a Russian by nationality.”
Prigozhin’s father and stepfather are reported to have been of Jewish descent.
Following the oblique reference to Prigozhin’s Jewish ancestry, Girkin goes on to expatiate on the canard that the early Bolsheviks were mostly non-Russians. “The majority were Jews with an admixture of Georgians,” he said.
Girkin is known to be a history buff who participates in reenactments of historic battles. He’s also an admirer of the Black Hundreds, an early 20th-century Russian nationalist monarchist organization, to whom the notorious rally cry, “Kill the Jews and save Russia!” has been attributed.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is of Jewish origin and has long been a target of anti-Semitic insinuations – not just by pro-Russian apologists but even by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov himself.
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