The ongoing feud between Putin's warlords came to the brink of violence on Friday.
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin went on a tirade against the Defense Ministry, prompting calls for his arrest.
"The evil carried by the country's military leadership must be stopped," Prigozhin said, adding that his 25,0000 mercenaries were ready to stand against Russia's Defense Ministry.
Insider's Ryan Pickrell previously reported that Putin plays Prigozhin and the Defense Ministry against each other, escalating tensions between those factions and attempting to deflect blame off himself.
Prior to his tirades Friday, Prigozhin was bashing Russia's Defense Ministry for months, especially targeting Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Chief of the Russian General Staff General Valery Gerasimov.
Persons:
Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, —, Vladimir Putin, Putin's, Prigozhin, Putin, It's, Insider's Ryan Pickrell, Simon Miles, Tatiana Stanovaya, Sergey Shoigu, Russian General Staff General Valery Gerasimov
Organizations:
Defense Ministry, Service, Titan, Russia's Ministry of Defense, Wagner Group, Russia's Defense, Russia's Defense Ministry, KGB, Kremlin, Wagner, Meduza, Duke University's Sanford School of Public, Soviet Union, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Russia's, Ministry, Russian, Russian General Staff
Locations:
Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, Soviet, Russian