insiderblm
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner organisation, claimed on Monday that the goal of his failed uprising was to save his mercenary group rather than overthrow the Russian government.
In the first audio message since cancelling the Wagner march at the weekend, Prigozhin stated, “We went to demonstrate our protest and not to overthrow power in the country.”
The private army commander reportedly relocated to Belarus as a result of a settlement mediated by Minsk to put an end to the mutiny, however he withheld his location.
Prigozhin said that his uprising was intended to save his beleaguered mercenary group and bring Russia’s military leadership—which he claimed committed “huge mistakes” during the campaign in Ukraine—to justice.
However, he said that the mutiny, which involved armed fighters rushing across southern Russia on their way to Moscow, highlighted serious security flaws.
Wagner’s convoy came to an end 200 kilometres (125 miles) outside of Moscow and, according to Prigozhin, “blocked all military infrastructure” in its path, including air bases.
He said that along the trip, residents had helped to support the group.
Russian flags and Wagner emblems were presented to us by locals in Russian communities, according to Prigozhin. When we went by, everyone was joyful.
According to Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus offered Wagner means to continue operating and therefore put a stop to the uprising.
“Lukashenko held out his hand and offered to find solutions for the continuation of the work of the Wagner private military company in a legal jurisdiction,” stated Prigozhin.
The Wagner commander claimed to have deployed two columns into Russia: one to Rostov-on-Don, where the local army headquarters were located, and the other to Moscow.
He put an end to the uprising as the column headed towards Moscow “did reconnaissance of the area and it was obvious that at that moment a lot of blood will be shed.”
Although he acknowledged there were casualties in the air, he insisted that no one was killed “on the ground” during the march.
We regret having to attack aircraft, but they dropped bombs and fired rockets at us, he said.
He said that two troops who had joined the insurrection “out of their own will” were slain and that several Wagner fighters had been hurt.
Wagner warriors, according to Prigozhin, were “not forced” to join because they were aware of the march’s “end goal.” He claims to have come as near to Moscow as 200 km.
Africa
