Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed his citizens this Saturday through a special message broadcast on state channels. Although without giving names, the president described the uprising led by the head of the Wagner group of Russian mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigozhin, as “treason.” On his side, Prigozhin rejected Putin’s statements and defended his rebellion.
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“We are fighting for the life and security of our people, for our sovereignty and independence, for the right to remain Russia, a state with a thousand-year history,” he said. Vladimir Putin in his televised message about the rebellion of the Wagner Group, one of the crises most complicated internal affairs in his more than two decades in power.
The main target of the president’s criticism was Yevgeny Prigozhinleader of the private Wagner militia that has played a leading role in the war in Ukraine, coming to take control of strategically important cities such as Bakhmut, but has turned its back on the Kremlin.
“We are facing a betrayal, the exorbitant ambition led to a betrayal against Russia,” said the Russian president, who added that the Army “has already received the necessary orders” to face the insurrection of the mercenaries, a measure that confirmed a break between Putin’s government and Prigozhin’s organization.
“All those who deliberately took the path of treason, who prepared an armed insurrection, who took the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer the inevitable punishment,” Putin added in his speech.
In addition to public criticism by the president, the Russian Federal Security Service issued an arrest warrant for Prigozhin on Friday, alleging his involvement in organizing “an armed insurrection.” In addition to this, the Government invited Wagner’s troops to disobey the orders of their leader and collaborate with the authorities to arrest him.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, defiant
Through a voice message on his Telegram channel, Yevgeny Prigozhin rejected the Russian president’s comments, assuring that his troops are not traitors to the homeland and that their activities do not represent “a military coup” but “a march for Justice”.
“Regarding treason, the president was deeply mistaken. We are patriots of our land,” said the head of the Wagner insurgent group.
In what seems to be the climax of the internal divisions within the Russian Armed Forces, Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded the presence of the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, and the Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, at the Rostov military headquarters. of the Don, an installation of the Army of which Wagner took control in the last hours.
The origin of the rebellion
The armed insurrection of the Wagner Group was announced by Prigozhin on Friday, June 23, after assuring that the Russian Army had attacked camps of the mercenary organization in Ukraine with missiles and helicopters. According to the Russian magnate, in the attack “a large number of comrades were killed.”
However, the Russian Ministry of Defense dismissed this action and distanced itself from any responsibility for the offensive.
“All the messages and videos disseminated on social networks on behalf of Prigozhin about the alleged ‘attack by the Russian Ministry of Defense against Wagner’s rear camps’ are false and constitute an informational provocation,” the ministry said in a statement on its Telegram channel.
The militia organization claimed to have taken a military headquarters southeast of Moscow, in the town of Rostov-on-Don, an advance that, according to Prigozhin, would have occurred “without firing a single bullet” or causing the death of civilians or members of the Army. .
With Reuters, AP and local media
