Global Courant
Russia accused mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin of calling for an armed mutiny on Friday after claiming, without providing evidence, that the military leadership had killed 2,000 of its fighters and vowed to stop what he called “evil.”
As a protracted standoff between him and the Defense Ministry appeared to be coming to a head, the Ministry issued a statement saying that Prigozhin’s allegations “were untrue and are an informational provocation”.
Prigozhin said his actions did not amount to a military coup. But Russia’s FSB security service opened a criminal case against him for inciting armed mutiny, the TASS news agency said on Friday, citing the National Anti-terrorism Committee.
The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin has been informed and “necessary measures are being taken”.
The standoff, many details of which remained unclear, resembled the biggest domestic crisis Putin has faced since sending thousands of troops to Ukraine last February in what he called “a special military operation.”
Ukrainian troops fire artillery into a field near the frontline town of Bakhmut, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, on Monday. (Serhii Nuzhnenko/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Reuters)
Prigozhin, whose frequent rants on social media belie his limited role in the war as head of Wagner’s private militia, has for months openly accused Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia’s top general Valery Gerasimov of incompetence and denial of ammunition to his forces. and support.
But earlier on Friday, he appeared to be crossing a new line in his increasingly vicious feud with the defense ministry, saying the Kremlin’s rationale for the invasion of Ukraine was based on lies concocted by top military officials.
Subsequently, in a series of late-night audio messages on his official Telegram channel, Prigozhin said: “The defense minister has ordered to hide 2,000 bodies in storage so as not to show the losses.”
He added: “Those who destroyed our boys, who destroyed the lives of many tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, will be punished. I ask no one to resist … We are 25,000 and we are going to find out why there is chaos in the country.”
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspects equipment and weapons at an undisclosed location in Russia on June 8. (Russian Ministry of Defense Press Service/The Associated Press)
Prigozhin said his actions were “not a military coup” but added: “Most of the military strongly support us.”
Early local time on Saturday, Prigozhin said in a Telegram message that his men had crossed the border from Ukraine into southern Russia and were ready to go “all the way” against the Russian military. He said he and his men would destroy anyone who stood in their way.
Russian military leaders also used social media to control the story. The deputy commander of the Russian Ukraine campaign, General Sergei Surovikin, told Wagner fighters to obey Putin, accept Moscow’s commanders and return to their bases. He said political regression would play into the hands of Russia’s enemies.
“I urge you to stop,” Surovikin said in a video posted to Telegram, resting his right hand on a rifle.
Unverified video
An unverified video posted to a Telegram channel near Wagner showed a scene in a forest where small fires were burning and trees appeared to have been broken violently. There appeared to be one body, but no more direct evidence of an attack.
The caption read: “A rocket attack was launched on the camps of PMC (private military company) Wagner. Many casualties. According to eyewitnesses, the attack was carried out from behind, that is, it was provided by the army of the Russian Ministry of Defense .”
Moscow’s National Counterterrorism Committee said that in response to Prigozhin’s statements, the Federal Security Service (FSB) had “initiated a criminal case based on calls for an armed uprising,” state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
“We demand that illegal actions be stopped immediately,” the commission added.
Wagner led the Russian conquest of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut last month, and Prigozhin has used his battlefield success, achieved at enormous human cost, to publicly criticize Moscow with apparent impunity – until now.
But on Friday, he for the first time rejected Putin’s main justifications for invading Ukraine on February 24 last year.
“The war was necessary … so that (Defense Minister Sergei) Shoigu could become a marshal … so that he could get a second ‘Hero’ (of Russia) medal,” Prigozhin said in a video clip. “The war was not necessary to demilitarize or denazify Ukraine.”
Marat Gabidullin, a former Wagner commander who moved to France when Russia invaded Ukraine, told Reuters Wagner’s fighters would likely be behind Prigozhin.
“We have looked down on the military for a long time… Of course they support him, he is their leader,” he said.
“They will not hesitate (to fight against the army), if anyone stands in their way.”
