The pinnacle of the Wagner mercenary group stated Saturday he had crossed into Russia along with his forces to topple Moscow’s army management, saying he and his 25,000 fighters had been “able to die”.
“All of us are able to die. All 25,000, after which one other 25,000,” Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, stated in an audio message, after earlier accusing the Russian prime brass of launching strikes in opposition to his males.
“We’re dying for the Russian individuals.”
In response, Russian authorities stated safety had been tightened in a number of areas and the mayor of Moscow introduced that “anti-terrorist” measures had been being taken within the capital.
The FSB safety service accused Prigozhin of making an attempt to launch a “civil battle” and urged Wagner fighters to detain him.
“We are going to destroy every thing that stands in our method,” Prigozhin stated earlier, in essentially the most audacious problem to President Vladimir Putin for the reason that begin of the offensive in Ukraine final yr.
Prigozhin stated his forces, who’ve spearheaded a lot of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, had entered the southern Russian area of Rostov, and had additionally shot down a Russian army helicopter.
He didn’t, nonetheless, present proof, and AFP couldn’t independently confirm the claims.
Authorities in Rostov urged residents to remain residence.
“Legislation enforcement companies are doing every thing mandatory to make sure the security of residents,” Rostov governor Vasily Golubev stated.
Movies and footage posted on-line, together with by TASS, confirmed armed males surrounding administrative buildings in Rostov and tanks deployed within the metropolis centre. It was not clear who the armed males had been.
In Moscow, important amenities had been “underneath strengthened safety”, the TASS state-run information company reported, citing a legislation enforcement supply.
Prosecutor Basic Igor Krasnov had knowledgeable Putin of “the initiation of a prison case in reference to an try and organise an armed rebel”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated, including the president was getting common updates on the scenario.
– Missile strikes –
The extraordinary developments got here after Prigozhin accused Moscow of concentrating on his forces with missile strikes that he stated killed “an enormous variety of our fighters”.
“The council of commanders of PMC Wagner has decided — the evil that the army management of the nation brings should be stopped,” he stated in a collection of livid audio messages launched by his spokespeople.
He warned Russians in opposition to resisting his forces and known as on them to hitch him.
“We have to put an finish to this mess,” he stated, including, “this isn’t a army coup, however a march of justice”.
In an announcement, the FSB stated: “Prigozhin’s statements and actions are the truth is a name to begin an armed civil battle on the territory of the Russian Federation and a stab within the again to Russian servicemen combating pro-fascist Ukrainian forces”.
Whereas Prigozhin’s outfit has spearheaded a lot of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, he has in current months engaged in a bitter feud with Moscow’s army management and has repeatedly blamed Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the final workers, for his fighters’ deaths.
– ‘Urge you to cease’ –
The Russian defence ministry denied Prigozhin’s claims of an assault on his forces, saying the statements “don’t correspond to actuality”.
It later stated Ukrainian troops had been profiting from the infighting to prepared an assault close to the east Ukraine hotspot of Bakhmut.
A outstanding Russian normal urged Prigozhin to name off efforts to take away the defence ministry management.
“I urge you to cease,” Sergei Surovikin, commander of Russia’s aerospace forces, stated in a extremely uncommon video deal with.
“Earlier than it’s too late, it’s mandatory… to obey the desire and order of the popularly elected President of the Russian Federation”.
Anti-Kremlin determine Mikhail Khodorkovsky, nonetheless, urged Russians to assist Prigozhin, saying it was acceptable to again “even the satan” in taking up the Kremlin.
Washington-based assume tank the Institute for the Research of Conflict stated the Wagner chief’s try and pressure a management change within the defence ministry “is unlikely to succeed” provided that Surovikin had denounced his name for rebel.
Kyiv’s defence ministry stated it was monitoring the scenario.
Ukraine was additionally on excessive alert after a contemporary barrage of Russian missiles Saturday, with casualties and harm reported in Kyiv and the central metropolis of Dnipro.
US President Joe Biden had been briefed on the scenario in Russia and Washington “shall be consulting with allies and companions on these developments”, Nationwide Safety Council spokesman Adam Hodge stated.
On Friday, Prigozhin stated Moscow’s forces had been retreating in Ukraine’s east and south following the beginning of Kyiv’s counteroffensive early this month. That immediately contradicted Putin’s account that Ukraine was struggling “catastrophic” losses and that there was a lull in combating.
“We’re washing ourselves in blood,” Prigozhin stated.
“Nobody is bringing reserves. What they inform us is the deepest deception,” he added, referring to the Russian army and political management.
– Questioning army operation –
After years of working within the shadows, Prigozhin has now admitted to operating the elusive mercenary group Wagner and even interfering in US elections.
His forces, bolstered by tens of hundreds of jail recruits, performed a central function in Russia’s seize of the city of Bakhmut within the japanese area of Donetsk, the longest and bloodiest battle of the battle.
Nonetheless, this week he accused Moscow’s prime brass of deceiving Russians concerning the offensive in Ukraine.
“Why did the particular army operation start?” he stated. “The battle was wanted for the self-promotion of a bunch of bastards.”
Prigozhin rose from a modest background to change into a part of the internal circle round Putin.
He spent 9 years in jail within the last interval of the USSR after being convicted of fraud and theft. Within the chaos of the Nineteen Nineties, he started a reasonably profitable enterprise promoting sizzling canine.
From there he fell into the restaurant enterprise and opened a luxurious location in Saint Petersburg whose prospects included Putin, then making the transition from working within the KGB to native politics.
In current months, Prigozhin has change into embroiled in a bitter energy wrestle with the defence ministry, accusing the army of making an attempt to “steal” his victories in Ukraine.
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Initially revealed as Wagner chief vows to topple Russia prime brass, says fighters ‘able to die’
