[ad_1]
MOSCOW, June 26 (AP) The leader of Wagner’s mercenary group defended his short-lived insurgency in a vaunted audio statement Monday, but uncertainty remains over his fate, as well as that of Russia’s top military leaders, The impact of the war on Ukraine, and even the political future of President Vladimir Putin.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has made his first public appearance since the uprising calling for his ouster, in a video aimed at showing a sense of order following the country’s worst political crisis in decades.
Read also | The Wagner Group Armed Mutiny: Find out what happened in the standoff with Russia.
Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an 11-minute audio statement that he acted “to prevent the destruction of Wagner’s private military company” and in response to the attack on Wagner’s camp, The attack killed about 30 militants.
“We started marching because of injustice,” Prigozhin said in the recording, which did not detail where he was or what his future plans were.
The feud between Wagner Group leaders and the Russian military’s top brass festered throughout the war, culminating in a mutiny when mercenaries left Ukraine, seized a military headquarters in the southern Russian city, and fought seemingly without resistance. Advanced hundreds of miles to Moscow, then turned to Moscow. Less than 24 hours later on Saturday or so.
The Kremlin said a deal had been reached whereby Prigozhin would move to Belarus with his soldiers and receive an amnesty. His whereabouts were not confirmed on Monday, but popular Russian news channel Telegram reported that he was in a hotel in the Belarusian capital Minsk.
Prigozhin mocked the Russian military in his statement, calling his march a “master class” on how Russia should carry out its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. He also mocked the Russian military’s failure to protect the country, noting that the security breach allowed Wagner to march 780 kilometers (500 miles) without encountering resistance and blockaded all military units en route.
The bullish statement did not provide any clarity on what would ultimately happen to Prigozhin and his army under a deal said to be brokered by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Prigozhin gave no details, but said Lukashenko “proposed to find a solution for the Wagner Private Military Company to continue its work within legal jurisdiction.” It was unclear which jurisdiction he was referring to.
Vyorstka, an independent Russian news outlet, claimed that Belarus is building a field camp for 8,000 Wagnerian soldiers some 200 kilometers (320 miles) north of the Ukrainian border.
The report could not be independently verified. Belaruski Hajun, a Belarusian military monitoring group, said Monday on Telegram that it had not seen any activity in the area consistent with the construction of the facility, nor was there any indication that Wagner’s convoy had entered or was heading to Belarus.
The rebellion, though brief, was not bloodless. Russian media reported that Wagner’s forces shot down several military helicopters and a communications plane, killing at least 15 people. Prigozhin regretted shooting down the planes but said they were bombing his convoy.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has denied attacking Wagner’s camp, and U.S. intelligence shows Prigozhin has been building up troops near the Russian border for some time, suggesting the rebellion was planned.
Russian media reported that despite the Kremlin’s earlier statement, the criminal case against Prigozhin had not been closed and some Russian lawmakers had called for him to be hunted down.
Retired general and current MP Andrei Gurulev, who rowed with the mercenary leader, said Prigorzhin and his right-hand man Dmitry Utkin should “be shot in the head”. “.
It is unclear what resources Prigorzhin has at his disposal, or how much of his vast wealth he has at his disposal. According to Russian media reports confirmed by Wagner’s boss, police raided his St. Petersburg office during the insurgency and found 4 billion rubles (about $8 million) in a truck outside the building. He claimed the money was used to pay the soldiers’ families.
Russian media reported that Wagner’s offices in several Russian cities reopened on Monday and the company resumed recruiting.
Seeking to restore at least a semblance of normalcy, Moscow’s mayor announced an end to the “anti-terror regime” imposed on the capital on Saturday, when troops and armored vehicles set up checkpoints on the outskirts and authorities tore up roads leading into the city.
The Ministry of Defense released a video of Shoigu taking a helicopter and then meeting with officers at the Ukrainian military headquarters. It was not immediately clear when he was shot. The video came amid speculation in Russian media that Shoigu and other military leaders had lost Putin’s trust and could be replaced.
Prior to the uprising, Prigozhin had spent months hurling expletive-filled insults at Shoigu and the chief of the general staff, General Valery Gerasimov, for failing to pay him back in the battle for the Ukrainian town of Bachmut. It was the longest and bloodiest town of the war. fighting.
Prigozhin’s statement appeared to confirm analysts’ view that the rebellion was a desperate move to avoid Wagner’s dismissal after ordering all private military companies to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense by July 1.
Prigozhin said most of his fighters refused to take command of the Defense Ministry, which plans to hand over military equipment for use in Ukraine on June 30 after it is withdrawn from Ukraine and assembled in the southern Russian city of Rostov. Upper-Don. Prigozhin’s claim that an attack had killed his fighters angered the commanders, who decided to act quickly.
Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya tweeted that Prigozhin’s defection was “not for power or trying to overtake the Kremlin” but rather his differences with Russia’s military leadership A desperate move in an escalating situation.
While Prigozhin could emerge from the crisis alive, he has no political future in Putin’s Russia, Stanovaya said.
It was unclear what the rift created by the 24-hour insurgency would mean for the war in Ukraine, with Western officials saying Russian troops were demoralized. Wagner’s forces were key to Russia’s only land victory at Bakhmut in months.
The UK Ministry of Defense said on Monday that the Ukrainian advance around Bahmut had “gained momentum”, making progress north and south of the town. Ukrainian troops claim to have recaptured Rivnopil, a village in Ukraine’s southeastern region that has seen heavy fighting.
U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of several of Ukraine’s European allies discussed the events in Russia over the weekend, but Western officials were silent on public comments.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told RT broadcaster that U.S. Ambassador Lynn Tracy contacted Russian representatives on Saturday to stress that the U.S. was not involved in the mutiny and considered it an internal Russian matter.
There was no immediate confirmation from the United States, although Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Sunday that U.S. officials had “engaged” with Russia to stress the importance of protecting U.S. citizens and interests.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that “the events over the weekend were an internal matter for Russia.”
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the rebellion showed the war was “undermining Russia’s political system”.
“The monster that Putin and Wagner created is now biting him. The monster is fighting his creator,” Borrell said. (AP)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a syndicated news feed, the latest staff may not have modified or edited the body of content)
share now
[ad_2]
Source link