Yevgeny Prigozhin accused the Russian military of attacking his private forces, shortly after he released a scathing video that described the invasion of Ukraine as a “racket” meant to enrich Russia’s corrupt elite.
Prigozhin, who leads the Wagner private military company, accused the Russian minister of defense, Sergei Shoigu, of sending missiles and helicopters to attack camps in Ukraine, where his fighters were bivouacked.
“The evil carried by the country’s military leadership must be stopped,” Prigozhin said.
Russian law enforcement immediately accused him of fomenting an “armed rebellion.”For months, the feud between Prigozhin and Russia’s military leadership has hampered the war effort, but these new accusations took the conflict to a new level.
Never before had Prigozhin accused military leaders of attacking his forces, nor had asserted in such stark terms that the Kremlin’s stated justification for the war was nonsense.
Persons:
Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Sergei Shoigu, “, ” Prigozhin
Locations:
Ukraine, Prigozhin