Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has broken his silence after calling off his armed uprising on Saturday night. He insisted he was marching on Moscow to prevent the Kremlin from taking control of his mercenary army and denied conspiring to overthrow Vladimir Putin.
In an 11-minute audio clip released on Wagner-affiliated Telegram channels, Prigozhin claimed the armed uprising was a “master class” on how Russia’s attack on Kiev should have looked.
He said he canceled his group’s advance on the Russian capital only to avoid Russian bloodshed, adding that the uprising was intended as a protest against Ukraine’s ineffective warfare.
Prigozhin described his Wagner mercenaries as “perhaps the most experienced and combative unit in Russia, possibly in the world” and said his private military company had done “an enormous amount of work in the interests of Russia”.
He also claimed that he created the uprising to “prevent the destruction of the Wagner group,” pointing out that they had been ordered to surrender their arms to the Russian military and that in the event of air raids by the Russian Air Force suffered casualties.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of military company Wagner Group, looks out of a military vehicle on a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023
Soldiers from the private military company (PMC) Wagner Group drive a tank marked ‘Siberia’ on a street in downtown Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia, June 24, 2023
Russian media outlet Meduza claimed the mercenary leader frantically called Putin (pictured) on his way to Moscow after realizing he’d made a mistake, but the Russian leader ignored his call and chillingly reminded him who continued to do so has say
“The aim of the campaign was to prevent the destruction of the Wagner PMC and to bring to justice those who made numerous mistakes through their unprofessional actions during the military special operation,” Prigozhin said.
“We went there to demonstrate our protest and not to overthrow the government in the country.”
Prigozhin, who did not reveal where he was speaking from, boasted that the ease with which they had advanced on Moscow revealed “serious security problems”.
This comes despite reports from news website Meduza that the mercenary leader frantically called Putin en route to Moscow after realizing he’d made a mistake, but the Russian leader ignored his call and chillingly reminded him who continues to call the shots.
Prigozhin also claimed that the Russian Air Force, despite showing no aggression towards Russian forces, launched airstrikes on his troops, killing 30 people.
This, he said, “was the trigger” that motivated him to order Wagner mercenaries to seize Russian soil.
He said, “We covered 780 kilometers in one day.” Not a single soldier on the ground was killed. We regret that we were forced to attack [Russian] air forces, but they dropped bombs and carried out rocket attacks.”
Up to 15 Russian Air Force pilots are believed to have been killed in the attacks by Wagner troops.
Prigozhin added, “As we passed Russian cities on June 23 and 24, civilians greeted us with Russian flags and with the emblems and flags of the Wagner PMC.” They all cheered as we passed. Many of them are still writing words of support and some are disappointed that we stopped, because in the “Justice March” they saw, in addition to our struggle for existence, support for the fight against bureaucracy and other abuses that exist in our country country today.
“We started our march because of injustice.” We didn’t kill a single soldier on the ground along the way. In one day they reached a point only 200 kilometers from Moscow and took complete control of the city of Rostov.
“We gave a master class on February 24, 2022 (when Russia sent troops to Ukraine) on how it should have been done.” “Our goal was not to overthrow the existing regime and the legitimately elected government.”
Prigozhin concluded his statement by saying that he had ordered the troops to halt their advance some 200 kilometers outside of Moscow, knowing that any further advance would result in armed conflict and many deaths.
“We stopped the moment the first assault commando, which was 200 kilometers from Moscow, was scouting the area, and it was clear that a lot of blood would be shed at that moment.”
“So we felt demonstrating what we wanted to do was sufficient.”
The Wagner leader also confirmed that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was instrumental in brokering an agreement between the Kremlin and Prigozhin that would result in the latter not being punished for organizing the uprising.
Lukashenko is said to have offered Prigozhin refuge in Minsk in return, ensuring his safety and granting amnesty to all Wagner troops involved in the capture of the southern town of Rosotv-on-Don and the march to Moscow.
However, several Russian media reported that criminal investigations into Prigozhin were still ongoing. Some MPs called for severe penalties after Putin said on Saturday he would “punish the traitors who betray Russia”.
Although Wagner’s armed uprising on Russian soil came as a surprise to most, Prigozhin’s hatred of the Russian military command has long been known.
Wagner leaders also confirmed that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (pictured) was instrumental in brokering an agreement between the Kremlin and Prigozhin that would allow the latter to escape punishment for organizing the uprising
Members of the Wagner Group prepare to depart the Southern Military District headquarters on June 24, 2023 and return to their base in Rostov-on-Don, Russia
This image captured from video shows citizens standing near military vehicles on a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023
Prigozhin has long expressed hatred and distrust of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (centre).
For months before the uprising, he had snubbed and attacked Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian army chief General Valery Gerasimov for failing to provide his troops with adequate ammunition in the battle for Ukraine’s longest and bloodiest battle.
Putin, meanwhile, spoke to the leaders of Iran and Qatar on Monday, the Kremlin said, and sent a recorded video message to a forum of young engineers that made no mention of the mutiny.
It’s not yet clear what the cracks left by the 24-hour insurgency will mean for the war in Ukraine, where Western officials say Russian troops’ morale is suffering from low morale. Wagner’s forces were key to Russia’s only land victory in months at Bakhmut.
Fighting continued in Ukraine, where Kiev’s forces scored new victories in the fight to drive out Russian troops from the east and south of the country, but in the Russian capital the authorities abandoned their tightened security regime.
The Kremlin, meanwhile, stressed that there had been a return to normal after announcing over the weekend that Prigozhin would be allowed to go into exile in Belarus and that there would be a general amnesty for his troops.
Putin himself did not address the dramatic events directly, instead delivering a video address to a youth forum entitled “Engineers of the Future” and praising companies for addressing “severe external challenges”.
Wagner’s headquarters in Saint Petersburg said it would remain open for business, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the company would continue to operate in Mali and the Central African Republic.
According to his office, Putin spoke to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi by telephone and received “full support” from Tehran.
He also received a call from Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar, who also expressed his support.
Defense Minister Shoigu appeared in additional pre-taped footage on state television, apparently in which he was visiting troops in Ukraine. However, it was not clear when the post was filmed.
Officials in Moscow and in the Voronezh region south of the capital lifted emergency counter-terrorism measures imposed to protect the capital from rebel attacks.
Ukrainian military leaders, meanwhile, insisted they were making progress in the south and east of the country, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a moralizing jaunt at troops fighting Russian forces near the town of Bakhmut.
“We are knocking the enemy out of their positions on the flanks of the city of Bakhmut,” said Oleksandr Syrskyj, commander of the Eastern Ground Forces. ‘Ukraine is reclaiming its territory.’ We are making progress.’
Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar said Ukraine has recaptured the rural settlement of Rivnopil on the southern front in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian residents of the front-line town of Druzhkivka near Bakhmut, also in Donetsk, told AFP news agency that four explosions rocked a residential area overnight.
The blasts severed water and sewage pipes, shattered windows and hurled rocks, hitting courtyards and roofs. According to city officials, no one was injured.
“It was a ‘fun’ night, we haven’t had that in a long time, it’s been quiet for about a month,” said 66-year-old Lyubov, showing off the new hole in her cement-shingled roof.
The wine-growing and salt-mining town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region was captured by Russian forces led by Prighosin’s private army in May.
However, the victory was short-lived.
When the Wagner boss got into a fight with Shoigu and Gerasimov, Ukraine launched a counter-offensive.
Western allies, who support Ukraine with weapons and money, see Putin’s takeover of power weakened by Wagner’s revolt and deployment in Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, visiting Lithuania ahead of next month’s NATO summit in Vilnius, said Putin’s Ukraine campaign has weakened his own domestic position.
Germany meanwhile strengthened the defense of Europe on the eastern flank against Russia and announced that it would station a powerful 4,000-strong army brigade in Lithuania.