Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claims to have turned 25,000 of his fighters against Vladimir Putin’s military amid its invasion of Ukraine
A Russian mercenary army is currently at odds with the country’s military.
After Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner mercenary group in Russia, accused Russia’s military of attacking a Wagner camp and vowed to retaliate, tensions have risen in the country.
Conflict between the group and Russia took off in recent weeks when Prigozhin, 62, accused the Russian military of being incompetent in regards to the invasion of Ukraine, and later accused the Russian military Friday of a missile attack at his camp that he claimed killed 2,000 fighters, per NBC News.
“Those who destroyed our lads, who destroyed the lives of many tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, will be punished. I ask that no one offer resistance,” Prigozhin said on his Telegram channel, per the outlet.
“The war was needed for a bunch of scumbags to triumph and show how strong of an army they are,” Prigozhin also claimed on Friday, according to Politico. He also speculated that Russia’s defense minister wanted a promotion.
Russia has since denied Priozhin’s accusations.
Prigozhin and Vladimir Putin are connected, as the Wagner leader used to serve the president state dinners and earned the title of “Putin’s chef,” per Politico.
Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev has called Prigozhin’s orders a “coup d’état,” as Putin has accused him of attempting to lead an “armed mutiny” and “a betrayal of his country and people,” according to NBC News.
As CNN reported, Prigozhin vowed to retaliate on Friday with “force,” ultimately claiming he would “destroy” any resistance.
“There are 25,000 of us, and we are going to find out why there is such chaos in the country,” he added, later claiming that it was a “march of justice,” rather than a coup.
Prigozhin has since said Wagner fighters have entered Russia’s Rostov region, the location of the country’s southern military command, threatening to blockade the city of Rostov-on-Don, unless he could meet with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and general Valery Gerasimov, CNN said.
Putin, 70, in an address, later labeled Prigozhin’s actions as “treason” and that the threat should expect a “severe response” from the country. In response, on Telegram, Prigozhin called his fighters “patriots of our Motherland” and claimed they would not be turning themselves in.
Russia’s Federal Security Service eventually launched a criminal case against Prighozhin and called for his fighters to detain him.
“Prigozhin’s statements and actions are in fact calls for the start of an armed civil conflict on the territory of the Russian Federation and are a stab in the back of Russian servicemen fighting pro-fascist Ukrainian forces,” the FSB statement read, per CNN.
The Wagner Group has worked alongside the Russian military amid the invasion of Ukraine, Politico reported, with tens of thousands of fighters in its control. Prigozhin has claimed that his forces have been leading the fight in Ukraine and also questioned Russia’s competency amid it, the outlet noted.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has since shared in a Telegram statement that “anti-terrorist” measures were taken in regard to security in the capital, following Prigozhin’s recent statements.
“This was the same kind of blow that Russia felt in 1917, when the country entered World War I, but had victory stolen from it,” Putin said, comparing the conflict to the Russian Revolution in 1917, per CNN.
“Intrigues, squabbles, politicking behind the backs of the army and the people turned out to be the greatest shock, the destruction of the army, the collapse of the state, the loss of vast territories, and in the end, the tragedy and civil war,” he added. “Russians killed Russians, brothers killed brothers.”
Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told CNN that if Russian forces “are being withdrawn to fight Wagner” then it could present Ukrainians with “new opportunities, identifying gaps in the Russian lines that they can push through and exploit.”
“If gaps open up, then they need to be ready to exploit those gaps,” he added of the ongoing conflict.
February marked the year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has since led to countless deaths and the displacement of millions of people.