"In 2014, when the genocide of the Russian population of Donbass began, when Russia barely made it to block the arrival of the Ukrainian army in Crimea, I, like many other businessmen, went to the training grounds where the 'cossacks' gathered, and tried to throw around money in order to recruit a group that would go to protect Russian people [in Donbass]. But I quickly realized that among all these 'cossacks' and other paramilitary mates, half were swindlers, and other half took the money to hire volunteers and send them to die naked and barefoot," Prigozhin said.
"From that moment, on May 1, 2014, a group of patriots was born, which later acquired the name Battalion Tactical Group "Wagner”. The liberation of the Lugansk airport and many other territories became possible only due to their valor and courage, and the fate of the LPR and the DPR changed drastically," he noted.