Washington Post Removes Fragment of Interview with Ukrainian President Zelensky about Prigozhin’s Contacts with Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine

The Washington Post removed from an interview with Vladimir Zelensky, which was published on the website of the publication on May 13, a fragment in which the President of Ukraine is asked about the contacts of the founder of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. When asked about the reliability of the information, Prigozhin ridiculed WP, ​​saying that “he is still with Budanov in Africa.”

Updated: Later, the newspaper returned this part of the interview to the site.

Source: Russian Air Force Service, Prigozhin’s press office

Details: As the BBC notes, current version interview with Zelensky WP removed a fragment with questions about the leak of secret US documents, which, according to journalists, speak of Prigozhin’s ties with the GUR. The previous version of the material is preserved in internet archives.

Here are the deleted fragments of the conversation between WP journalists and the Ukrainian president.

WP: “Documents indicate that the Main Intelligence Directorate, your intelligence agency, maintains unofficial contacts with Yevgeny Prigozhin and you were aware, in particular, of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s meetings with the officers of the Main Intelligence Directorate. Is this true?”

Vladimir Zelensky: “This is a question of (military – ed.) intelligence. Do you want me to be tried for treason? And therefore it is very interesting if someone says that you have documents, or if someone from our government talks about the activities of our Intelligence, I would like to ask you: what sources in Ukraine are you in contact with? Who speaks about the activities of our intelligence? After all, this is the most serious crime in our country. Which Ukrainians do you talk to?”

Journalists assure Zelensky that none of the Ukrainian officials spoke to them about this, but they rely solely on leaked documents.

WP: “I can read out what information there is about Prigozhin and the GUR. On February 13, Kirill Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, informed you about the Russian plan to destabilize Moldova with the help of two former Wagner employees. Budanov told you that he views this scheme as a way (by the Russian side – ed.) to expose Prigozhin (in contacts with the GUR – ed.), because “we are dealing with him. ” You instructed Budanov to inform the President of Moldova Maia Sandu, and Budanov told you that the GUR informed Prigozhin that he will be declared a traitor who works for Ukraine. The document also says that Budanov expected the Russians to use details of Prigozhin’s secret negotiations with the GUR and meetings with GUR officers in Africa.”

Zelensky: “Listen, to be honest, well, you’re just reading something, saying something. I just don’t understand where you get it from, who you are talking to and so on. You talk about how I met Budanov. that you have – how should I put it? – it looks like you have people who have some kind of record, or you have evidence, or you have something, because that’s how it looks. do, I beg your pardon, what you did before. You publish some information that does not help our state. Therefore, I do not quite understand what you are talking about. I do not quite understand your goal. Your goal is to help Russia? “we have different goals. If I’m not sitting at the same table with them, I don’t quite understand what we’re talking about. Each of these questions simply demotivates Ukraine, demotivates certain partners to help Ukraine. Anyway, I just don’t understand your goal “.

Further, WP journalists continue to insist that no one told them this information personally, and they received the data from secret documents. The Ukrainian president continues to say in response that the information was given to them.

Zelensky: “They (documents – ed.) were not on the Internet, they were part of something. We, a normal society, could not access all this. We could not. And then, I think, information began to appear, which began to be published partially and everything else. I think it’s yours – or your editorial board, or someone else. I don’t want to offend anyone, I don’t know. That’s why today you publish this information in parts. You publish information about the counter-offensive of Ukraine, about I told you that I think it’s – how to put it? – someone heard something somewhere, someone published something somewhere, but the information was compiled, and it is works in favor of Ukraine”.

More details: When asked to comment on the message about the meeting with the GUR officers, Prigozhin said that “Budanov and I are still in Africa.”

“Of course, I can confirm this information. We have nothing to hide from foreign intelligence services at all. Budanov and I are still in Africa. As for WP and the deleted fragment, I think that this happened due to the fact that they did not buy tickets on time and I’m afraid if someone finds out that WP is still in Africa, they will be sold business class at a high price. So they just want to save money, as usual,” he said.

Updated at 8:55: The interlocutor of the UP in the Washington Post explained this situation by saying that the publication was preparing for publication a text about Prigozhin and his contacts with Ukrainian intelligence and mistakenly posted the full transcript of the conversation with Vladimir Zelensky before the release of the investigation.

Currently, after the release publications about Prigoginethe full transcript of Zelensky’s interview is again published on the site.