The world is watching Russia's response after forces under Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin occupied Rostov-on-Don — one of the countries largest cities and logistical hub for its invasion of Ukraine. On Friday, Prigozhin accused the Kremlin of making up its justification for invading Ukraine. He vowed to take his 25,000 fighters (dubbed Putin's private army) to Moscow, a promise he's well on the way to fulfilling.
As of Saturday morning, a column of military vehicles under Prigozhin's command were advancing north from the city of Voronezh — more than halfway on the road from Rostov to Moscow. Russian forces have reportedly opened fire on the convoy.
Chechen fighters loyal to the Russian government have begun to move against Wagner defenses in Rostov. Whether these probes mark the beginning of a full-scale counterattack remains to be seen.
Though Vladimir Putin's unprovoked invasion sparked an immediate backlash in the West, Putin's control of Russian media ensured a compliant populace at home. And Prigozhin had been one of the invasion's strongest proponents. His frustration became evident as casualties mounted. As of last month, the Wagner chief estimated 20,000 of his men — some of Russia's best equipped soldiers — had been killed in and around the ruined city of Bakhmut.
On Friday, Prigozhin said the whole invasion was concocted by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to enrich the country's oligarchy. Prigozhin later released a video allegedly showing the aftermath of a Russian strike on a Wagner camp that killed a “huge” number of mercenaries.
So far Prigozhin has attempted to keep the feud between himself, Shoigu and General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. Initially appearing disinterested in the rivalry has come back to haunt Putin.
Prigozhin, in constrast to Shoigu, leads from the front. Due to the shortage of trained personnel in crucial sectors and inadequate coordination of medical resources, the number of Russian fatalities in Ukraine may have already surpassed the number of U.S. deaths in the Vietnam War.
Some believe the situation could spiral out of control to full-scale civil war. It already represents the biggest domestic crisis of Putin's two-decade reign.
The Kremlin took steps to mitigate the threat in border regions on Friday but failed to keep Wagner fighters in Ukraine from entering Russia.
That same day, Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) opened a criminal investigation into Prigozhin for inciting an armed rebellion, as The Hill reported:
Earlier on Friday, Prigozhin released a video that went viral in which he directly countered the Kremlin's narrative for launching the war in Ukraine — to denazify and demilitarize Kyiv, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused of persecuting ethnic Russians and of attempting to destroy Russia on behalf of the U.S. and other western leaders.
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He said Ukraine never planned to attack Russia, contrary to Putin's comments, and claimed Russian elites tried to plunder resources from Ukraine. The Wagner chief also accused Russia of lying about the number of casualties in the war and said soldiers were fleeing in eastern Ukraine as Kyiv pushes forward with a counteroffensive.
Russia's Defense Ministry has denied those claims, saying the allegations “do not correspond to reality and are an informational provocation.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin is aware of the situation unfolding around Prigozhin and that all necessary measures were being taken, according to TASS.
One of the few Russian generals Prigozhin has continued to view favorably amid Russia's bungled invasion urged Wagner's fighters to obey the Kremlin on Friday.
General Surovikin's pleas fell on deaf ears.
Now, the question is how many allies does Prigozhin have in Moscow?
This is a breaking news story. Click refresh for the latest updates.
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Russian Rev 2?
It”s not “countries”; that”s plural! It’s country’s, possessive.
Did anyone ever notice, when Democrats are placed in charge of our country, that not only the United States, but the entire rest of the world goes straight to heII?
Didja’??? Funny how that works.
Many of us watched a video where Yevgeniy Prigozhin denounced Putin for wanting an extra star on himself as he lay on his coffin pillow: a.k.a self-aggrandizement. I hope this is not true. Still more disconcerting and shameful is his denunciation of Sergei Shoigu, who ‘engineered’ the Russia-Ukraine war to enrich Russian oligarchs. A friend of mine says: ‘Where there is a war, always follow the money.’ With the words of Prigozhin, I begin to wonder.