Global Courant
INTERPRETER
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claims his fighters are not involved in a military coup, but “a march of justice.”
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed his troops entered Russia to remove the country’s military leadership.
Russian security services said they had opened a criminal investigation into Prigozhin on Friday for launching what they described as a mutiny.
Prigozhin has long accused Russia’s top military leaders of failures in the Ukraine war and is known for his long-running feud with the Russian Defense Ministry.
Here’s what we know about Prigozhin’s stated goals:
What did Prigozhin say?
Prigozhin posted a series of angry video and audio on Friday accusing Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of ordering a missile strike against Wagner’s field camps in Ukraine, where his troops are fighting on behalf of Russia. Prigozhin said his troops would now punish Shoigu in an armed uprising and urged the Russian army not to resist. “This is not a military coup, but a march of justice,” Prigozhin declared. The Russian Defense Ministry denies the missile attack. Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which is part of the Federal Security Services, or FSB, said the Wagner chief will be investigated on charges of calling for an armed insurrection. The FSB called Prigozhin’s statements on Friday a “stab in the back of Russian troops” and said they amounted to fomenting armed conflict within Russia. The FSB urged Wagner’s fighters to arrest Prigozhin, telling them to refuse to follow his “criminal and treacherous orders”. Riot police and the Russian National Guard have done everything they can to tighten security at key facilities in Moscow, including government agencies and transportation infrastructure, state news agency TASS reported.
What is the basis of Prigozhin’s dispute with the Russian army?
Fighters who were allegedly Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine recorded a video cursing the General Staff of the Russian Army, General Valery Gerasimov, and accusing him of not supplying ammunition. Prigozhin has also singled out Shoigu for scathing criticism as he accuses Russian military leaders of incompetence. Once a shadowy businessman with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin has risen to prominence for almost daily bragging about Wagner’s supposed victories, sardonically mocking his enemies and complaining about Russian military leaders. (TagsToTranslate)News
