CNN Newsroom: Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) Is Interviewed About The Insurrection In Russia

Interview

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Well, there's no doubt that this has damage Vladimir Putin. So much of what Vladimir Putin is about is the projection of power. He wants to keep confidence of those around him. He's somebody who does not engender loyalty so much as he gets people to be afraid of him, and he's very transactional, right?

So that's starting to fall apart. We see the cracks in that. We've actually seen the cracks in that over the last 18 months with the war in Ukraine. And Prigozhin has done tremendous damage to Vladimir Putin. So, what we need to do is take (inaudible) a couple of things. Number one, what is the stability within Russia right now and whether or not there's going to be other challenges to him in the months ahead.

Number two, the Wagner Group, as was indicated on your show a little while ago, has arms throughout the entire world, some very dangerous parts of the world in Africa and the Middle East. So, does this destabilize those regions that rely on those mercenaries, some strongmen and autocrats in some areas that rely on those mercenaries for stability of their regimes? So, we have to keep a close eye on the international impact of this.

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Well, there's no doubt that we've been having those conversations already. I've been pushing some of those conversations, both with the administration, my friends in Congress, but as well civil society and free press organizations. The challenge is, is that Putin has done such an effective job of completely controlling the media, pushing out, killing or jailing any opposition.

But many of the people who would actually form the basis of an opposition movement have fled Russia. Over a million Russians have actually fled Russia over the last 18 months since the war kicked off. Others, you know, continue to take refuge in places around the world. So, we're going to have to think about how do we engage with that diaspora? How do we engage with resistance folks, opposition folks outside of Russia? What does a free press look like? How can we promote that within Russia? It's very complicated. Putin has not made it easy.

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Well, I'm not sure Russian could win the war in Ukraine with Prigozhin and the Wagner Group. Let's not remember the last three months saw some of the hardest fighting in Bakhmut in the south and the east. And it was actually the Wagner group that held the line, barely, barely holding the line against the Ukrainian military. That's before the Ukrainians kicked off their counter offensive and put into action the nine new combat brigades that we helped train, that we've equipped with modern Western technology, NATO weapons.

So, that organization is off the battlefield, at least for now. And Prigozhin, who is one of the most effective combat leaders for the Russians, is definitely off the battlefield. So, they're in a really tough spot. The Ukrainians know how to capitalize off of that. We've actually seen in the last two days an increase in offensive activity because the Ukrainians see a window of opportunity here, and they're certainly capitalizing off of it.

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Well, we've been sending that message pretty loudly and clearly since day one of this invasion, actually since before day one, we sent a very strong message to Russia. We knew they were going to invade before they did. And we said, this is going to be a huge mistake. It's going to cost you. And of course, we were right. One thing that the administration has been doing, and it's time to, I think, double down on those efforts, is starting to engage with countries that have either stayed neutral or maybe have aligned more with Russia.

There is a vast swath of countries that just haven't been critical of Vladimir Putin, they kind of hedge their bets here, determining what side to pick. And if anything is really clear after the last 24 or 48 hours, and that is Russia is not a reliable partner. They have no strength. They have no ability to come to anyone's aid. They barely are able to keep their own government intact and the security of their own people in whole.

They're not going to be a reliable partner that the United States, that democracies are more reliable, stable partners and that case is very evident right now, so we should be making that everywhere and anywhere we can.

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You could. I mean, things do happen in Russia historically very fast, right? It seems like nothing's going to change. There are not going to be any cracks in the ice until everything changes very quickly. But, you know, we've known this for a long time about Vladimir Putin. He's somebody who is focused solely on the destruction of the United States and on NATO. And he believes that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest tragedy of the 20th century.

He could care less about delivering health care to the Russian people. He could care less about developing a strong middle class. And, you know, that will only last you so long. People are hurting. They're suffering in Russia. He's not delivering for the Russian people.

And on top of that, he's put them through terrible atrocities by sending young, largely young Russian men, convicts, people from the poor rural areas into the meat grinder of Ukraine. I mean, we're talking about tens of thousands, largely young Russian men, convicts, people from the poor rural areas into the meat grinder of I mean, we're talking about tens of thousands killed, over 100,000 wounded.

He's sending his recruiters, as he calls them, out on the streets and actually kidnapping Russians and doing mandatory press gains into service, and he's taking people out of prison. So, he's a terrible person, and the Russians are seeing that more and more as time goes on.

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Thank you.

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