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.
According to the source, Evgeny Prigozhin is also trying to penetrate within Kremlin and has already recruited an insider named Yulia for this purpose.
Meanwhile, according to RT, 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.
The statement came in response to a video purporting to show the aftermath of a “missile attack” on a Wagner camp in a forest somewhere. “There are many dead. According to eyewitnesses, the strike came from behind, i.e. from the forces of the Russian Defense Ministry”, according to the social media post.
“A large number of our fighters died. We will decide how we will respond to this atrocity. The next step is ours”, Prigozhin said in a statement commenting on the alleged attack.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed about the situation involving Prigozhin and Wagner, and all the necessary measures are being taken, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
FSB opens criminal case
Evgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group private military company, is under investigation for allegedly advocating a mutiny against the government, Russia’s anti-terrorism committee said on Friday.
All of Prigozhin’s claims are “entirely unfounded”, the body said in a statement, adding that the Federal Security Service (FSB) has “opened a criminal investigation on account of calling for an armed rebellion”.
“We demand the immediate end to all illegal activity”, the anti-terrorism committee stated.
The attempted insurrection by the chief of the Wagner private military company, Evgeny Prigozhin, amounts to a betrayal of Russia and its people, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an address to the nation on Saturday morning. He also vowed that the country’s law enforcement agencies will take decisive actions to restore order.
Tanks on the streets of Rostov-on-Don
Tanks, armored personnel carriers, and other military hardware have been filmed on the move in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, according to multiple unverified videos posted on social media.
The extraordinary footage comes after Moscow accused Evgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group private military company (PMC), of staging an attempt at an armed insurrection.
One clip released on Saturday morning appears to show two tanks parked in a crossroads while being flanked by several infantrymen. A military truck and armored combat vehicle are seen in the distance. The video was purportedly filmed near the HQ of Russia’s Southern Military District.
Another clip features a column led by a Russian main battle tank and an armored personnel carrier, with several other armored vehicles and pickups loaded with military equipment following behind.
Several other videos from the city also feature armed men in military uniform patrolling the streets while a pick-up truck blocks the road. The soldiers were reluctant to speak with reporters and would not say whether they belong to Wagner or the Russian army.
Meanwhile, Kiev is concentrating troops in an attempt to retake the key Donbass city of Artyomovsk, known as Bakhmut in Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defense has announced.
According to the ministry, Ukrainian units are “taking advantage of [Wagner chief Evgeny] Prigozhin’s provocation aimed at disorganizing the situation”.
“Servicemen from the Southern group are suppressing the enemy with artillery and aviation strikes”, the statement added.
According to Russian news agency TASS, Russia’s Deputy Commander of Russian joint forces in the special military operation area Sergey Surovikin called on the Wagner PMC to comply with President Vladimir Putin’s order and to resolve all issues peacefully, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
“I urge you to stop. The enemy is waiting for our internal political situation to escalate. We must not play in enemy’s favor in this difficult time. Before it is too late, it is necessary to submit to the will and order to the nationally elected president of the Russian Federation, to stop the convoys, to take them back to their permanent deployment and concentration locations, and to only resolve all issues peacefully”, he said.
Surovikin added that he arrived from the frontline under order of the Defense Ministry board.
“We have together come a difficult way, we were fighting together, risking, suffering casualties, we were winning together. We are of same blood, we are fighters”, he added.
Earlier, Prigozhin’s Telegram channel published several audio messages. In particular, Prigozhin claimed that his units were hit with airstrikes, accusing Russia’s military leadership. In this regard, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) initiated a criminal case over charges of call for an armed rebellion.
The Russian Defense Ministry called the reports on strikes at Wagner PMC units false. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin was informed about the situation around Prigozhin and “necessary measures are being taken”.
