The leader of the paramilitary organization Wagner said on Monday that he had taken a Russian officer prisoner whose unit allegedly attacked his men, yet another illustration of the tensions between this armed group and the Russian regular forces.
“On May 17, men from the (Russian) Ministry of Defense were seen blasting roads behind the positions of Wagner units,” Yevgeny Prigozhin wrote, according to his press service, in a press release. report to this department.
“The Wagner fighters who carried out the mine clearance were attacked by fire from the positions of the Ministry of Defense”, according to the same source.
“An investigation is ongoing and several facts cannot be made public but I put here this initial report and video evidence of what really happened there,” said Prigojine, in open conflict with the command of the Russian regular army, in an audio message accompanying the text.
Wagner’s boss also released the video of the interrogation of a Russian officer, taken prisoner, who presents himself as “commander of the 72nd motorized brigade, Lieutenant-Colonel Roman Vinevitenov”.
In this video, the man confesses to “attacking” Wagner, adding that he acted “intoxicated, guided by personal animosity”.
On Saturday, Yevgeny Prigojine, who regularly criticizes the military staff of the Russian army, had accused him of “ceding” territories in the Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine and hit in recent days by intense bombings and ground attacks.
He also said he was ready to send his units to defend “the Russian territories which “are in fact being conquered”.
The day before, Evguéni Prigojine had assured that Wagner’s troops had left “99%” Bakhmout, in eastern Ukraine, and ceded their positions to the regular army, after claiming the capture of the city on 20 may.
05/06/2023 14:01:41 – Moscow (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
