The leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner on Friday accused the Russian army of carrying out deadly strikes on its fighters behind the Ukrainian front, calling for an uprising against the military command, earning him the immediate target of an investigation for calling “armed mutiny”. “Allegations aired on behalf of Yevgeny Prigozhin have no basis. In connection with these, the FSB (Russian security services) has opened an investigation for a call for armed mutiny, “said the National Anti-Terrorism Committee of Russia, in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies.
For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin “is informed of all the events around (Yevgeny) Prigozhin. The necessary measures are being taken,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the Tass news agency. Earlier, Wagner’s boss claimed that Russian strikes had caused a “very large number of casualties” in the ranks of his group. “They carried out strikes, missile strikes, on our rear camps. A very large number of our fighters have been killed,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio message.
This dramatic new exchange between the two entities at the heart of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine again exposes the deep tensions within Russian forces linked to the Ukrainian conflict. “The Wagner Group command committee has decided that those with military responsibility for the country must be stopped,” Wagner’s boss also said in an audio message, calling for no “resistance” to his troops and by assuring that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu would be “stopped”.
He drove the point home by claiming to have 25,000 fighters and calling on the Russians to “join them”. “There are 25,000 of us and we are going to determine why chaos reigns in the country […] Our strategic reserves are the whole army and the whole country,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio message, calling for “an end to the mess “.