Mercenary Leader in the Russia-Ukraine War Speaks Out as the Crisis Tests Russia
Mercenary Leader in the Russia-Ukraine War Speaks Out as the Crisis Tests Russia
Two days after calling off a rebellion that led the Kremlin to brand him a traitor, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, maintained he wasn’t trying to topple President Vladimir Putin. Uncertainty is increased by Mr. Putin‘s lack of public appearances.
The following topics are covered:
Prigozhin maintains he wasn’t attempting to topple Putin in his first comments following his uprising.
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Following the brief Russian insurrection, markets throughout the world have been quiet.
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Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the commander of the Wagner mercenary force that staged a brief insurrection against Russia’s military command over the weekend, broke a protracted period of quiet on Monday to once again deny that his march on Moscow was part of any attempt to seize power.
In an 11-minute voice memo posted on the messaging app Telegram, he declared, “We went to demonstrate our dissatisfaction, and not to overturn the leadership in the country. His criticism of Russia’s military command for what he alleges was poor treatment of his fighters and its management of the invasion of Ukraine was reiterated in the statement.
Wagner’s actions in Ukraine would have been virtually put on hold as of July 1 if the Ministry of Defence had not taken action to force his mercenaries to sign contracts with the government, according to Mr. Prigozhin. Prior to being ambushed from behind on Friday night and losing at least 30 Wagner men, according to Mr. Prigozhin, the fighters were prepared to surrender their heavy weapons to the Russian Army. However, no independent proof has been provided to support this assertion.
He claimed that at that point, he made the decision to dispatch one group of fighters to seize Rostov-on-Don, the location of the Russian southern command located approximately 60 miles from the Ukrainian border, and another group to Moscow to express their outrage.
He remarked, indirectly addressing the Defence Ministry leadership, “The campaign was to prevent the destruction of the Wagner PMC and to bring to justice those persons who, by their unprofessional actions, made a huge number of mistakes during this process.”
The founder of Wagner has been criticising Russia’s military leadership for months. Mr. Prigozhin has a history of animosity with them and has long accused them of mishandling the war effort. He accused military leaders of neglecting to provide his forces with ammunition even as they were fighting in one of the deadliest battles of the war, the taking of the destroyed city of Bakhmut, in Telegram messaging that blended egotistical boasts and profanity-laced complaints.
However, Mr. Prigozhin had vanished after calling off his rebellion on Saturday, adding to the uncertainty surrounding an incident that had thrown into question Russia’s appearance of political stability. After being branded a traitor and threatened with punishment by Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, Mr. Prigozhin stopped his march on Moscow and consented to leave Rostov-on-Don as part of an agreement that would end the investigation against him and allow him to travel to Belarus.
Some commentators claim that his voice memo is an indication that he wants to stay involved in political and military activities. In it, Mr. Prigozhin lauded his troops, claiming that they had displayed professionalism and provided the Russian public with a “master class” in how the invasion of Ukraine should have started last year. He asserted that Wagner’s leadership would have allowed Russia’s military objectives to be accomplished in a matter of “days.”
The Kremlin declared on Saturday that the agreement to cease hostilities, which Mr. Prigozhin reiterated he accepted to save carnage, would result in the dismissal of the case against him; yet, there were indications on Monday that he might still be charged.
The criminal case against Mr. Prigozhin is still pending, and the charges against him have not been dismissed, according to reports in the Russian media that were released on Monday. A Russian publication called Kommersant as well as Tass, RIA, and Interfax, the three major news organisations in the nation, all said that the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., was still looking into the matter.
The media, which were all either state-controlled or connected to the Kremlin, claimed anonymous sources, making it impossible to independently confirm their claims. Mr. Prigozhin may spend up to 20 years in prison if the case goes forward.
Even if the lawsuit is dropped, Mr. Prigozhin’s safety there has been questioned by Aleksandr G. Lukashenko’s detractors because of the government’s tight ties to Mr. Putin, who has been a vital source of support for Mr. Lukashenko.
After calling a halt to his brief insurrection and turning back the column of soldiers he had ordered on a march to Moscow, Mr. Prigozhin was last saw in public late on Saturday, grinning and shaking hands with fans as he left Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia.
His location has been a mystery ever since. Mr. Prigozhin’s press office informed the Russian television network RTVI on Sunday night that he “says hi to everyone and will answer questions” when he has strong mobile coverage.
Despite the seriousness of Mr. Prigozhin’s weekend activities, some Russian officials have been reluctant to condemn Wagner troops, who have shown themselves to be successful, if violent, in fighting for Russia in Ukraine and other conflicts.
The Wagner fighters who overran the army headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, according to Andrei Kartapolov, the chairman of the Russian Parliament’s defence committee, “did not do anything reprehensible” and had merely “followed the orders of their command.”
He claimed, “They didn’t hurt anybody, they didn’t break anything. “Neither the citizens of Rostov nor the military personnel of the Southern Military District nor the law enforcement agencies have the slightest claim against them.”
