2023-06-23 20:10:17
The power struggle between the Russian military contractor Yevgeny Prigozhin and the state leadership in Moscow is escalating into one of the most serious domestic political crises in Russia since the beginning of the Ukraine war. On Friday, Prigozhin called the official justification for the war a lie and accused Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of a military attack to destroy his Wagner mercenary group. He called on citizens to join his “25,000” fighters.
Russian citizens should join his “25,000” fighters to “put an end to the chaos,” Prigozhin said. At the same time, he emphasized that this was not a military coup, but a “march for justice”. He previously accused the Russian army of killing a “very large” number of Wagner mercenaries.
The Department of Defense denied the allegations. The domestic secret service FSB opened a criminal case against Prigozhin on the charge that he had called for an armed uprising. President Vladimir Putin was informed about the developments, said his spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “Necessary action” would be taken.
Prigozhin stated in several audio contributions on the short message service Telegram that Shoigu had arrived in the city of Rostov to carry out an operation against Wagner. Meanwhile, a video was published in another Telegram channel, in which there is talk of a rocket attack by the Russian military on Wagner units. Regarding recordings of a forest area with fallen trees and fires, it said in writing: “A rocket attack was carried out on the warehouses of the private military company Wagner. Many victims.” The attack was carried out by the Russian military. An independent verification of the information and the authenticity of the video was initially not possible.
Prigozhin announced that he would stop “evil” in the military leadership. Those who destroyed the lives of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers would be punished. The ministry is keeping 2,000 bodies hidden in a morgue to hide the extent of the casualties. “We are 25,000 and we will find out why the country was thrown into chaos,” said the mercenary chief. Most of the military supports him. “This is not a military coup. This is a march for justice.”
The ministry said in a statement that Prigozhin’s allegations were untrue and a provocation. The TASS news agency, citing the State Anti-Terrorism Committee, reported that the FSB had opened criminal proceedings against Prigozhin.
In addition, Prigozhin explained in a video that the Defense Ministry was trying to deceive Putin and the public about the reasons for the war. The fact that Ukraine is aggressing and attacking Russia together with NATO is a lie. “The special operation was started for other reasons,” said Prigozhin, who has repeatedly criticized Shoigu and opposed his mercenaries’ subordination to the Russian military.
“The war was necessary so that Shoigu could become a marshal and receive a second hero’s medal,” Prigozhin said. In addition, the Russian elite wanted to seize substantial assets with the help of the war. “The war was not necessary to demilitarize or denazify Ukraine.”
In doing so, Prigozhin indirectly contradicted Putin. The president was always seen as a patron of the entrepreneur, who for his part avoided open criticism of Putin. Putin said the invasion, which began on February 24 last year and was dubbed a “special military operation,” aims to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. He also described the war as a struggle for existence against the West, which aims to destroy Russia. This account is rejected by Ukraine and numerous western and other states. In the war, the Wagner mercenaries officially fight alongside the Russian military.
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