Wagner Leader Declares War on Russian Military After Alleged Attack

[Boats]

Wagner Leader Declares War on Russian Military After Alleged Attack
By: Jon Jackson - Newsweek News 06-23-23
Re: https://www.newsweek.com/wagner-lead...n-military-aft

The Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin on Friday accused the Russian military of attacking Wagner positions in Ukraine with missiles and declared war on the Russian Ministry of Defense.

"We are 25,000 strong, and we are going to figure out why chaos is happening in Russia," Prigozhin announced in a message shared on Telegram. "Everyone else is free to join us."

Prigozhin has long been critical of Russia's military leaders and frequently expresses his frustrations with them on Telegram. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is often a direct target of his denunciations, and Prigozhin on Thursday accused the defense minister of lying to Russian President Vladimir Putin about Russia's "colossal" battlefield failures.

According to Prigozhin, the tensions resulted in his troops being attacked on Friday by Russia's formal military forces.

Photo link: https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/22501...1650bbf4c2856c
Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin shows Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin his school lunch factory outside St. Petersburg on September 20, 2010. Prigozhin, The Wagner Group leader, on Friday accused the Russian military of attacking Wagner positions in Ukraine and declared war on the Russian Ministry of Defense.
ALEXEI DRUZHININ/SPUTNIK/AFP/GETTY

After the alleged attack, Prigozhin said he's "declaring war on the Russian Ministry of Defense."

"PMC Wagner Commanders' Council made a decision: The evil brought by the military leadership of the country must be stopped," he said, according to a translation from the WarTranslated project. "Those who destroyed today our guys, who destroyed tens, tens of thousands of lives of Russian soldiers will be punished.

"I'm asking: No one resist. Everyone who will try to resist, we will consider them a danger and destroy them immediately, including any checkpoints on our way. And any aviation that we see above our heads."

"PMC Wagner Commanders' Council made a decision: The evil brought by the military leadership of the country must be stopped," he said, according to a translation from the WarTranslated project. "Those who destroyed today our guys, who destroyed tens, tens of thousands of lives of Russian soldiers will be punished.

"I'm asking: No one resist. Everyone who will try to resist, we will consider them a danger and destroy them immediately, including any checkpoints on our way. And any aviation that we see above our heads."

RIA Novosti also reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin is aware of Prigozhin's declaration and added that "all the necessary measures are being taken."

Igor Girkin, a former commander in Russia's military who frequently criticizes how Putin is conducting the Ukraine war, said "a coup attempt is underway."

"If this isn't a fake [which it can be], the military coup has started," Girkin wrote on Telegram. "But if it isn't a fake, then the situation with the face-off between MoD and Wagner is out of control and needs immediate involvement by the president. If we still have him at all..."

Note: Updated 6/23/23, 4:00 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with statements from Russia's Defense Ministry and the Kremlin, as well as comment from Igor Girkin.
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Personal note: Infighting between Wagner & Putin - not the first time and
not the last I suppose. Why Wagner just knock Putin off and pull his men
out is beyond me. Ukraine is kicking his ass and Wagner is losing his men
and not making any headway. Russia doesn't have the manpower nor do
they want to continue this fight with Ukraine. Something is about to happen
in the very near future between these two guys - I feel it!
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#2 Another report states:

Wagner head Prigozhin says Russian army attacked his forces
By: DW News - 31 min. ago
Re: https://www.dw.com/en/wagner-head-pr...ces/a-66016855

Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said Russia's military leaders targeted his troops, after he made critical remarks. The Russian Defense Ministry denies the allegations.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary outfit Wagner Group, said the Russian army attacked his troops on Friday.

"We were ready to make concessions to the defense ministry, surrender our weapons," Prigozhin said in an audio message released by his representatives. "Today, seeing that we have not been broken, they conducted missile strikes at our rear camps."

The Wagner head said the "evil" of the Russian leadership must be stopped.

"Those who destroyed our lads, who destroyed the lives of many tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, will be punished. I ask that no one other resistance," Prigozhin said.

"There are 25,000 of us and we are going to figure out why chaos is happening in the country," he added.

The Wagner chief said he was carrying out a march for "justice" in retaliation against Russian military leadership, rather than a "coup."

The alleged attack on Wagner forces came just hours after Prigozhin lashed out at Russian military leaders, saying they deceived President Vladimir Putin into launching the invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry denied Prigozhin's claims of an attack, saying the Wagner head's allegations "do not correspond to reality and are an informational provocation."

Prigozhin: Ukraine invasion was to benefit military leaders
In a video released on Telegram earlier Friday, Prigozhin made fiery remarks which criticize Russia's rationale for commencing the assault on Ukraine, which began on February 24 of last year.

Prigozhin alleged that the Russian Defense Ministry "is trying to deceive society and the president and tell us how there was crazy aggression from Ukraine and that they were planning to attack us with the whole of NATO."

The Wagner chief referred to the official Kremlin justification for the war as a "beautiful narrative."

"The special operation was started for different reason," Prigozhin said, referring to the Russian government's preferred term for the invasion.

Prigozhin claimed that the assault on Ukraine was launched so that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu could become a marshal and receive military accolades. The rank of marshal is the highest in the Russian military, with only one former minister of defense having received the title so far.

Contrary to Moscow's claims, Prigozhin also said the war wasn't needed to "demilitarize or denazify Ukraine."

Putin has said that Russia's assault on its neighbor was necessary to purge "Nazis" from the country's leadership, an attempt to appeal to Russia's historical pride over defeating Nazi Germany in World War II. Yet, the argument runs contrary to the fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky is Jewish, with the Ukrainian leader having lost family due to the Holocaust.

The Wagner chief said the invasion was an attempt to acquire "material assets" to divide among Russian elites.

Wagner chief refrains from criticizing Putin
Despite Prigozhin's attacks on Russia's military leadership, he didn't explicitly criticize Putin. The Wagner chief is still reliant on Putin's support and maintains a close relationship with the president.

Some analysts say Prigozhin may be trying to win approval from the public amid setbacks in Ukraine.

"He is posturing as an enemy of the elites, even though he is a product of Putin's system, the embodiment of his regime and state contracts," Andrei Kolesnikov of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center told the Associated Press news agency.

"Prigozhin is playing an independent politician, raising the stakes and testing the system's limits," Kolesnikov added. "But it's only techinically possible for as long as Putin finds him useful and is amused by his escapades."

The Wagner chief has been referred to as "Putin's chef" after he earlier ran a catering service which worked for the Kremlin. Prigozhin now maintains a global influence, with Wagner mercenaries involved not only in Ukraine but also African countries such as Mali.

wd/rs (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)
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2nd personal note:

If Wagner pull our his mercenaries - Russia will not do so good.
He's lost way to many men already and this Country will soon
fall upon him to stop this conflict or worse maybe someone
will take Putin out - to their benefit!
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