Former President Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday that Russia would not allow a mutiny led by mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin to turn into a coup or a global crisis, the state-run TASS news agency reported on Saturday.
Answering questions from journalists, Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, said the whole world would be on the brink of disaster if Russian nuclear weapons fell into the hands of “bandits”.
The “bandits” attempt the putsch
Prigozhin, a former convict and longtime Putin ally, leads Wagner, a private army that includes thousands of ex-convicts from Russian prisons.
His men fought the fiercest fighting of the 16-month Ukraine War, including the protracted battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut.
A supporter of private mercenary group Wagner holds flags near the headquarters of the Wagner militants-controlled Southern Military District in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023. (Source: STRINGER/ Portal)
For months he railed against the heads of the regular army, accusing the generals of incompetence and withholding ammunition from his fighters. That month he resisted orders to sign a treaty placing his troops under the command of the Department of Defense.
He launched the apparent mutiny on Friday after claiming the military had killed many of his fighters in an airstrike. The Ministry of Defense denied this.