Feud Between Moscow and Wagner Group Turns to All-Out War

Concord Press Service/Handout via Reuters

Moscow has reportedly put its security forces on high alert after Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin publicly called for “patriots” to help him stage a mutiny and stop the “evil” leading the war effort.

After months of feuding between the mercenary boss and Russia’s Defense Ministry, things came to a head Friday when Prigozhin accused the Russian military of ordering a rocket strike on a camp full of his men and vowed merciless revenge.

Within hours, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced charges against Prigozhin for attempting to incite an armed rebellion, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years behind bars.

That announcement followed a similar one from Russia’s federal security agency, the FSB, that said Prigozhin was being probed for attempting to incite an armed rebellion. The country’s security services appear to be bracing for major unrest. Local media reported checkpoints being set up late Friday night on a highway that leads from Rostov-on-Don to Moscow, and the territory around the Kremlin was reportedly closed off to visitors for the foreseeable future.

Prigozhin released a fiery voice memo Friday after claiming to have lost a “huge” number of soldiers in a rocket strike at a Wagner camp—an attack Moscow denies orchestrating. In the memo, an enraged Prigozhin vowed to confront Russia’s military leadership and promised revenge.

“Today, seeing that we have not been broken, they conducted missile strikes at our rear camps,” Prigozhin said. “The council of commanders of PMC Wagner has made a decision—the evil that the military leadership of the country brings must be stopped.”

Yevgeny Prigozhin at a recent funeral in Moscow.

Reuters/Yulia Morozova

Reuters reported Prigozhin added, “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 offer resistance.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Prigozhin’s claims “do not correspond to reality and are an informational provocation.”

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, told reporters that President Vladimir Putin was aware of the “unfolding situation” and was taking “all necessary measures.”

Story continues

It’s unclear what Prigozhin’s criminal probe means for fighting on the ground in Ukraine, which has become rife with infighting between Russian soldiers and Wagner mercenaries. Just last week, Prigozhin vowed to defy an order from Russia’s Defense Ministry to fall under the regular army’s command, saying he’d instead take defectors under his wing and create his own ranks.

Prigozhin said Friday that his “march for justice” will not impede the operations of Russian military troops in Ukraine, but Wagner fighters have been integral to Russian advances—and alleged atrocities—on the front lines.

The mercenary leader escalated his defiance on Friday, asserting that military leaders were “deceiving the public and the president” about why a war with Ukraine was necessary in the first place. He accused military leaders of fear-mongering about a potential Ukrainian invasion that was never coming to justify launching an invasion of their own.

Referring to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu by name, Prigozhin said Russia invaded Ukraine “for the self-promotion of a bunch of bastards.” He added that the operation was poorly planned and “embarrassing.”

“Shoigu killed thousands of the most combat-ready Russian soldiers in the first days of the war,” Prigozhin said. “The mentally ill scumbags decided, ‘It’s okay, we’ll throw in a few thousand more Russian men as ‘cannon fodder. They’ll die under artillery fire, but we’ll get what we want.’”

Ex-Marine Reveals Crushing Sneak Attack on Putin’s Men

While drama between Moscow and Prigozhin played out, Ukrainian officials announced Friday their forces had retaken eight villages from Russian control as part of their first counteroffensive. Top Ukrainian officials conceded this week that gains have been slow, but indicated the attack’s main push is yet to come.

“The counteroffensive is not a new season of a Netflix show,” presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak posted to Twitter. “There is no need to expect action and buy popcorn. Offensive operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue in a number of areas. Formation operations are underway to set up the battlefield. Time is always important… especially in war.”

Hanna Maliar, a deputy defense minister, reportedly said on Ukrainian TV on Friday that the “main blow is still to come.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast’s biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast’s unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.