Wagner Group Vows Mobilization To Avenge Prigozhin
The remaining leadership of the Wagner Group threatens another march on Moscow if the leader’s death is confirmed.
The remaining leadership of the Wagner Group threatens another march on Moscow if the leader’s death is confirmed.
There is growing certainty that Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is among the dead after his private jet was allegedly shot down north of Moscow Wednesday night.
For the first time since Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed march on Moscow, the Wagner boss reappeared. In a new video, the 62-year-old told the mercenary forces they would no longer fight in Ukraine but would “help train the Belarusian army,” which he was certain they could turn into “the second best army in the world,” after, naturally, Wagner itself.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Prigozhin, along with a few dozen Wagner commanders, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, just five days after the aborted mutiny, where they discussed, among other things, their version of what took place on June 24th.
The rebellious mercenary chief lost six news sites and a $1 billion worth of catering business over the weekend. But even without Wagner, “there is no threat of decreased combat potential” on the front, Moscow claims.
“We keep a very wary eye on everything that occurs in Belarus with Prigozhin there and an unknown number of very trained and skilled fighters who presumably will be joining him,” Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš said.
The Russian president accused those who participated in the mutiny of betraying the nation and doing the bidding of Moscow’s foes
Time may yet tell what Prigozhin was thinking when he launched his insurrection. But he probably did not expect it to end with his flight from the country, the loss of his militia, and extreme personal vulnerability to Putin’s vindictive hand.
Observers trying to make sense of the ordeal don’t know if the mutiny was a product of an emotional outburst or internal power struggle; a well-planned attempt to overthrow Putin; or an elaborate ploy for Russia to gain leverage over Kyiv.
The latest reports suggest that Prigozhin’s forces have entered Russia’s Lipetsk oblast, which sits 360 kilometers to the south of Moscow. If the group’s current rate of advance continues, Wagner troops could be in Moscow by nightfall.
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