Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin: Russia rebellion was ‘march for justice’

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founding father of the Wagner Group mercenary military, mentioned his aborted march on Moscow over the weekend was over quite a few operational failures in Ukraine that he laid on the ft of Russia’s navy forms.

On his Telegram social media web site Monday, Mr. Prigozhin denied the operation was an try and overthrow the federal government of his longtime benefactor, Russian President Vladimir Putin. He referred to as it “a march for justice” focusing on Russian navy leaders who he claimed have botched the invasion of Ukraine.

“Wagner was going to be disestablished and we protested that decision,” Mr. Prigozhin mentioned Monday. “We stopped when it became clear that blood [would] be spilled.”

Mr. Prigozhin has made no secret of his contempt for Mr. Putin’s high navy aides and the way they’ve performed the Ukraine warfare, focusing on particularly Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov, saying they’ve badly mishandled the invasion and denied Wagner Group forces ammunition and wanted assist to assist in the combat.

Separately, President Biden used a White House occasion Monday to make his first remarks on the Russian disaster, saying the U.S. performed no function within the shadowy revolt. Mr. Biden mentioned he had assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a cellphone name that Washington would proceed to assist Kyiv.

Wagner’s management determined to march on the southern Russian metropolis of Rostov-on-Don as a result of it’s the command and logistics hub for Russian navy operations in Ukraine. The non-public mercenary agency, which has fought alongside Russian troops within the Ukraine marketing campaign, briefly held town and was touring largely unopposed on the highway to Moscow when Mr. Prigozhin referred to as off the motion and agreed to journey to neighboring Belarus.

“The march’s aim was not to remove the government, but [was targeted] at the bureaucracy and issues in our country that contributed to so many mistakes in Ukraine,” Mr. Prigozhin mentioned.

He acknowledged that some Russian airmen had been killed in confrontations sparked by the rebellion over the weekend.

He mentioned his agency “regretted that they were required to carry out strikes against aircraft but they were hitting our forces with bombs and rocket strikes.”

He mentioned the Wagner military’s practically profitable march into Russia is a template for a way the Kremlin ought to have staged the preliminary invasion of Ukraine, which didn’t obtain its major purpose of taking Kyiv and is now slowed down attempting to carry off a Ukrainian counteroffensive within the japanese and southern elements of the nation.

He credited Belarusian chief Aleksandr Lukashenko with negotiating an finish to the dispute, permitting the Wagner Group to proceed its work there. Ukrainian information retailers mentioned camps and coaching grounds had been already being ready for Wagner Group forces, which quantity within the 1000’s.

But the Kremlin might have one thing to say about that.

The Russian Prosecutor General has launched a felony case into Mr. Prigozhin for allegedly organizing an armed mutiny in opposition to the federal government The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor company to the Soviet Union’s KGB, is also investigating what occurred, in line with the official Russian TASS information company.

“The case was initiated after Prigozhin’s Telegram channel published statements that his units were allegedly attacked and appealed to supporters to come out against the country’s top military leaders. The crime is punishable by 12 to 20 years in prison,” TASS reported.