Wagner chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine unjustified

Wagner chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine unjustified

The Moscow Times reports:

The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group on Friday accused the country’s military leadership of ordering strikes on the group’s camps and killing a “huge” number of forces.

In an extraordinary declaration against the Defense Ministry, with whom he has been feuding publicly for months, Yevgeny Prigozhin vowed to “stop” Russia’s top military brass and urged ordinary Russians to remain calm. [Continue reading…]


The Moscow Times reports:

Russia did not face an imminent security threat to justify its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary outfit, said in a bombshell video posted on social media Friday.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine were not going to attack Russia with the NATO bloc,” Prigozhin explained in the half-hour tirade released by his press service.

“The Russian Defense Ministry is deceiving the public and the president,” he added.

Prigozhin’s comments were at odds with the casus belli given by President Vladimir Putin when he ordered troops into Ukraine last February, although the private army chief avoided personally attacking the Russian leader.

Putin has cited NATO expansion near Russia’s borders as one of the main justifications for invading neighboring Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Prigozhin escalated his criticism of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu by claiming that Russia went to war “for the self-promotion of a bunch of bastards.” [Continue reading…]

CNN reports:

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of private military group Wagner, has vowed to retaliate after accusing Russia’s military leadership of killing a “huge amount” of his forces in strikes – prompting Russia’s domestic intelligence service to open a criminal case against him.

In a series of Telegram posts on Friday, Prigozhin – who has frequently criticized Russia’s traditional military hierarchy – accused them of “trying to deprive us of the opportunity to defend our homes and instead hunt down Wagner PMC.”

He said strikes were launched “on our camps” and that “a huge amount of our fighters were killed, our comrades in arms. We will make a decision about how to respond to these atrocities. The next step is ours.” Russia’s Ministry of Defense has denied the claims, calling it an “informational provocation.”

The mercenary then warned that retribution would be meted out. “We will deal with those who destroy Russian soldiers and return to the front, justice for the troops will be restored, and then justice for all of Russia,” he added.

In a later Telegram post, Prigozhin clarified that his criticism of the Russian military leadership was a “march of justice” and not a coup. “This is not a military coup, this is a march of justice. Our actions do not interfere with the troops in any way,” Prigozhin said. [Continue reading…]

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