The leader of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, denied the accusation of “treason” made by Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling his fighters “patriots” and guaranteeing that they will not surrender to the authorities.
“Regarding treason, the President was deeply mistaken. we are patriots We fight and fight (…) and no one intends to surrender at the request of the President, the Federal Security Service or anyone else. “Prigozhin says in a new audio posted on his Telegram channel.
Maintaining that Vladimir Putin “is deeply mistaken”, the leader of the Wagner group guaranteed that his fighters “will not give up”, stating that he and his men do not want “the country to continue living immersed in corruption, lies and bureaucracy”. . .
“When we fought in Africa, they said we needed Africa and they quickly abandoned it because they stole all the aid money,” he said.
Prigozhin also noted that when the campaign in Ukraine began, fighters from the Wagner group went to fight, “but the fact is that ammunition, weapons and all the money that was intended for them were also stolen.”
“Instead, officials save for their benefit, for cases like today, when someone advances on Moscow. Now they do not save on anything: they attack peaceful columns with planes and helicopters, ”he denounced.
The head of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed responsibility for the occupation of Rostov, a key city in southern Russia for the war in Ukraine, and called for a rebellion against the Russian military command, which he accused of attacking its fighters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the paramilitary group’s action a rebellion, saying it was a “deadly threat” to the Russian state and treason, guaranteeing a “civil war” would not ensue.
Prigozhin had earlier accused the Russian army of attacking his mercenary camps, causing “a large number of casualties”, accusations denied by the Russian Defense Ministry.
Prigozhin’s accusations expose the deep tensions within Moscow’s forces over the offensive in Ukraine.
Source: TSF
