Source : India Today
Massive Setback: Russian militia Wagner Group wages rebellion against Russian President Putin
Russia has mobilised military vehicles and stepped up security outside government facilities and key locations following threats by the Wagner mercenary group of “armed mutiny”.
According to news agency TASS, which cited a source, military vehicles were seen in central Moscow in the early hours of Saturday.
The development comes a day after Russia opened a criminal probe into calls to stage an “armed mutiny” after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner mercenary group, accused Moscow of targeting his forces with deadly missile strikes and vowed to retaliate.
Yevgeny Prigozhin had called on Russians to join his forces and punish Moscow’s military leadership in the most audacious challenge to President Vladimir Putin since the start of the offensive in Ukraine last year.
He vowed to avenge what he alleged, without evidence, was the killing of 2,000 of his fighters by the Russian army.
While Prigozhin’s private military outfit has spearheaded much of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, he has in recent months engaged in a bitter feud with Moscow’s military leadership that he alleges has now spilled onto the battlefield.
He has repeatedly blamed Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, for his fighters’ deaths on the battlefield.
However, Russia denied the same yesterday, saying the statements “do not correspond to reality”.
‘NOT A COUP’
“They (Russia’s military) conducted missile strikes at our rear camps. A huge number of our fighters, our comrades died,” Prigozhin said in a series of audio messages released by his spokespeople.
“The council of commanders of PMC Wagner has made a decision — the evil that the military leadership of the country brings must be stopped,” he said.
“Anyone who puts up resistance — we will consider this a threat and destroy it immediately. We need to put an end to this mess. This is not a military coup, but a march of justice,” he added. Massive Setback: Russian militia Wagner Group wages rebellion against Russian President Putin Massive Setback: Russian militia Wagner Group wages rebellion against Russian President Putin Massive Setback: Russian militia Wagner Group wages rebellion against Russian President Putin IgMp
