The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group on Friday accused the country’s military leadership of ordering strikes on the group’s camps and killing a "huge" number of forces.
In an extraordinary declaration against the Defense Ministry, with whom he has been feuding publicly for months, Yevgeny Prigozhin vowed to “stop” Russia’s top military brass and urged ordinary Russians to remain calm.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin was aware of the "unfolding situation" around Prigozhin and that "all necessary measures" were being taken.
Russia’s Federal Security Agency (FSB) has launched a criminal case on charges of inciting an armed revolt, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing the National Anti-Terrorism Committee.
"We were ready to make concessions to the Defense Ministry, surrender our weapons," Prigozhin said in a furious audio message released by his spokespeople.
"Today, seeing that we have not been broken, they conducted missile strikes at our rear camps."
He vowed to "stop" Moscow's top military leadership and called on Russians not to resist his forces.
"The council of commanders of PMC Wagner has made a decision — the evil that the military leadership of the country brings must be stopped," Prigozhin said in the audio message, urging Russians to remain calm.
“There are 25,000 of us and we are going to look into why there's total lawlessness in the country.”
Following online speculation of his previous comments that he had de facto announced an armed revolt against Russia’s military, Prigozhin said: “It is not a coup d’etat. It’s a march of justice. Our actions do not impede [regular Russian] soldiers at all.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said that Prigozhin's statements "do not correspond to reality," calling them a "provocation."
"The Russian Armed Forces continue to carry out combat missions" in Ukraine, the ministry added.
Independent media outlet Vyorsyka reported that relatives of Wagner fighters were allegedly unable to reach them following Prigozhin’s statements Friday evening, writing in online chat groups that the day before they had called to “say goodbye.”
“Yesterday, many of the guys called to say ‘goodbye.’ Many of them said to watch the news,” one relative is quoted as saying.
“Soon our [loved ones] will be designated terrorists,” said another relative, suggesting that the mercenary group had been planning some kind of armed operation.
This story is being updated.
AFP contributed reporting.
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