IRIA News

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner and founder of the Wagner group, Russia’s largest private military contractor, has been charged with mutiny after attempting to incite an armed rebellion to oust the country’s defense minister.

Moscow’s Federal Security Services (FSB) released a press statement saying that a criminal case has been registered against Yevgeny Prigozhin for his acts of mutiny after he urged his supporters to march toward Moscow to protest the Russian Defense Ministry for conducting an airstrike on his unit stationed in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the armed rebellion will be “punished” after the Wagner chief said his troops had taken control of military facilities in two Russian cities.

In a social media post, Prigozhin asked his supporters to conduct an armed rebellion against the government and particularly against Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Wagner chief Prigozhin said his forces had taken control of all military installations in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and vowed to move on to Moscow. Videos and photos posted on social media platforms showed that the servicemen of the mercenary group took positions outside the headquarters of the Southern Military District.

The Wagner private military group claimed that they have control of some of the buildings of Southern Military District Headquarters in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. This was an important strategic command center in Russia’s war on Ukrainepic.twitter.com/hGraI0LETK

— IRIA (@IRIA_Research) June 24, 2023

Rostov-on-Don is a city of about 1.1 million people, 1,000 miles from Moscow. Wagner soldiers surrounded key facilities in the city and Prigozhin posted a video demanding Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff General Valery Gerasimov to meet him at the Southern Military headquarters of the city. He warned that he would attack Moscow if they didn’t comply with his demands.

The Deputy Commander of Russian joint forces in the special military operation area Sergey Surovikin called on the Wagner group to comply. “I urge you to stop. The enemy is waiting for our internal political situation to escalate. We must not play in the enemy’s favor in this difficult time,” he said.

Surovikin warned the Wagner group that “Before it is too late, it is necessary to submit to the will and order to the nationally elected president of the Russian Federation, to stop the convoys, to take them back to their permanent deployment and concentration locations, and to only resolve all issues peacefully.”

Putin vows to punish ‘armed uprising’ 

Russian President Putin said that “armed mutiny” by the Wagner Group mercenary force was treason, and that anyone who had taken up arms against the Russian military would be punished.

A Kremlin spokesperson said that President Vladimir Putin was informed about Prigozhin’s statement adding that all necessary measures are being taken against him.

Security has been tightened at key facilities in Moscow as riot police started to circle the city while the National Guard forces scrambled to protect government agency buildings and transport infrastructure, especially around the red square.

A long-running feud between Prigozhin and the top brass of the Russian military seems to be coming to an end. The criminal case of mutiny against Prigozhin can send him to jail for more than 20 years.

Prigozhin accused Russian military leadership of killing hundreds of his troops through airstrikes as he vowed to punish them. A series of audio and video messages released by Prigozhin suggested that he had directed his 2500-men-strong mercenary group to enter Russian territories to oust the leadership of the defense ministry in Moscow.

Russian Defense Ministry rejected Prigozhin’s claims about the airstrikes and released a statement saying that “Prigozhin’s statements and actions effectively constitute calls for an armed civil conflict on Russian territory and a stab in the back of Russian servicemen.”

Wagner Group

The Wagner Group is one of the many, and largest, private military companies that work closely with the Russian military. It played a major role in pursuing Russia’s military goals in Africa. A faction of the Wagner group is currently stationed in Ukraine and played an instrumental role in helping Russian forces capture the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after a months-long bloody battle.

The faction of the private military group in Ukraine is largely made up of thousands of Russian convicts who are promised an early release from prison if they survive. Owner and chief of the Wagner group and Putin’s close ally, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had been riling up accusations against the high officials of the Russian military and defense ministry during the battle of Bakhmut. He frequently complained about the shortage of ammunition and supplies from the Ministry of Defense.

A few weeks ago, the Russian Ministry of Defense released new regulations for private military contractors for better control over their activities. The feud between the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is finally settling down as Shoigu seems to have the upper hand after gaining Putin’s approval to charge Prigozhin with mutiny.