We showed helplessness of Russian army, but "we did not want to overthrow government" – Wagner Group leader
The leader of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), Yevgeny Prigozhin, has spoken publicly for the first time since the failed rebellion. He has claimed that he did not intend to seize power in Russia and that his militants showed how weak the regular Russian army is.
Source: Prigozhin on Telegram
Quote: "We were marching to demonstrate our protest, not to overthrow the government in the country...
I would like to draw attention to the fact that our justice march revealed many of the most serious security problems throughout the country. We blocked all military units and airfields that were on our way."
Details: According to Prigozhin, if the Russian army had advanced on 24 February 2022 as successfully as the Wagnerites did on 23 June 2023, it would have reached not only Kyiv but also Uzhhorod. And it would do so in a day.
But to do so, Prigozhin has said that the troops of the Ministry of Defence lack Wagner's "training", "moral composure" and "readiness to perform tasks".
Background:
- On the evening of 23 June, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that the regular Russian army had launched a missile strike on the Wagner mercenaries’ rear camps. He therefore deployed 25,000 of his mercenaries "to restore justice".
- On the morning of 24 June, Prigozhin claimed that his forces had taken control of military facilities in Rostov-on-Don, and seized military facilities in the Russian city of Voronezh – and were headed "to Moscow" – and the capital of the Russian Federation was already preparing for defence.
- In an emergency address, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was "fighting for survival" and that attempts were being made to "organise a rebellion" in the country. Ukrainian intelligence had information that Putin had urgently left Moscow for his residence in Valdai.
- On Saturday evening, after a conversation with self-proclaimed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin announced that his mercenaries were turning their convoys around and going back to set up field camps. Later, it was reported that the criminal case against Prigozhin is to be closed and he will "go to Belarus".
- According to the Russian pro-war media and Telegram channels, during the mutiny, the Wagner Group fighters shot down an Il-22M aircraft (command post) and 6 helicopters of the Russian army, which killed 13 to 20 people. Also in Russia, 19 houses and roads were damaged by the march of Prigozhin's private army.
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