Evgeny Prigozhin, head of Wagner Group, a private military group has reportedly instructed a contingent of Wagner commandoes to “infiltrate” inside Moscow, attack Kremlin and assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to a credible source, the size of this contingent of commandoes is around two thousand, whereas it also has dozens of female members.
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry has accused PMC Wagner head Evgeny Prigozhin of spreading falsehoods, after a video made the rounds on social media on Friday purporting to show a rocket strike on one of the company’s bases from Russian territory.
“All messages and video distributed on social networks on behalf of [Evgeny] Prigozhin about the alleged strike by the [Russian military] on the camps of PMC Wagner in the rear areas do not correspond to reality and are an informational provocation”, the ministry said in a statement.
“Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to carry out combat missions on the line of contact with the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of the special military operation”, the ministry added.
Meanwhile, in a televised address to the nation of June 24, 2023 morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the unfolding events were a betrayal of the country and its people and Russia would defend itself from internal treachery.
“We will defend both our people and our statehood from any threats, including internal treachery. What we have been confronted with can be precisely called treachery. The unbounded ambitions and personal interests have led to a treason and a betrayal of the country and its people”, the head of state stressed.
As Putin pointed out, this has led to the betrayal “of the cause for which fighters and commanders of the Wagner group had fought and lost their lives side to side with other formations and units”.
“The heroes who liberated Soledar and Artyomovsk, towns and settlements in Donbass, who fought and lost their lives for Novorossiya, for the unity of the Russian world – their name and glory have also been betrayed by those who are trying to stage a mutiny and pushing the country towards anarchy and fratricide, defeat and finally surrender”, the head of state said.
A civil war will not be allowed to repeat itself in the country, Putin stressed.
The Telegram channel of Wagner private military company founder Yevgeny Prigozhin earlier posted several audio records with accusations against the country’s military leaders. In the wake of this, the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia has opened a criminal case into a call for an armed mutiny. The FSB urged Wagner fighters not to obey Prigozhin’s orders and take measures for his detention.
According to Russian television channel RT, President Putin argued that “Russia is today waging a grueling fight for its future,” facing off with the “neo-Nazis and their masters”. He went on to stress that “essentially the entire might of the West’s military, economic and information machine” is being directed against the country.
“This battle, when the fate of our people is being decided”, calls for national unity and consolidation, Putin said in his address. According to the president, all internal conflicts and bickering must be put aside at present as “our external enemies can and use them to undermine us internally”.
The Russian head of state emphasized that any actions driving a wedge between Russians are nothing short of “backstabbing of our country and our people”.
CNN in a report said, “The simmering conflict between Moscow’s military leadership and Yevgeny Prigozhin, the bombastic chief of private mercenary group Wagner, has exploded into an open insurrection that plunges Russia into renewed uncertainty and the very real threat of civil war.
“The dramatic turn of events began on Friday when Prigozhin openly accused Russia’s military of attacking a Wagner camp and killing a “huge amount” of his men. He vowed to retaliate with force, insinuating that his forces would “destroy” any resistance, including roadblocks and aircraft.
“There are 25,000 of us and we are going to find out why there is such chaos in the country”, he said.
“Prigozhin later rowed back on his threat, saying his criticism of the Russian military leadership was a “march of justice” and not a coup – but by that point he appears to have already crossed a line with the Kremlin.
“The crisis then deepened as Prigozhin declared his fighters had entered Russia’s Rostov region and occupied key military installations within its capital. That city, Rostov-on-Don, is the headquarters for Russia’s southern military command and home to some one million people.
“Prigozhin released a video saying his forces would blockade Rostov-on-Don unless Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia’s top general Valery Gerasimov come to meet him”.
It may be mentioned here that, quoting a credible source, Blitz in a report has claimed that Wagner Group chief Evgeny Prigozhin (also known as Yevgeny Prigozhin) has reached into a secret deal with the Western nations via Kiev, under which he will receive US$1 billion as “bonus” while he also has been assured Western support if the members of Wagner Group can stage terrorist attacks inside Russia and “successfully stage a coup”. The source further said, an “upfront payment” has already been made by Kiev, which was deposited in an offshore bank account operated by one of Prigozhin’s relatives.
The source said, in addition to terrorist attacks using weapons and explosives, Wagner Group members are also plotting to stage nerve agent attacks using Russian made ‘Novichok’ targeting key installations and members of Russian armed forces and secret service.
Commenting on the current situation in Russia and Wagner Group’s mutiny, a western defense analyst said, “It won’t be easy for Vladimir Putin to neutralize such a huge size of the members of Wagner Group within several days as it may cost lives of thousands of Russians from both sides”.
Meanwhile, another source said, out of 25,000 members of Wagner Group, only a fraction is favoring the mutiny led by Evgeny Prigozhin. It said, “possibly members of the Wagner Group will neutralize Prigozhin loyalists in the group and it is possible that Evgeny Prigozhin may be arrested or killed latest by Monday evening”.
