Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin (L) is being investigated by Russia for starting a civil conflict, after he accused the Russian military of killing his troops. Photo by Press service of Prigozhin/UPI | License Photo
June 23 (UPI) — In a major escalation of Russian infighting, the head of the Wagner mercenary group is being investigated by Russia for inciting mutiny after he accused the country’s military of launching a missile strike on his troops.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the infamous mercenary group, accused the Russian military of launching a deadly strike on his troops on Friday. He has vowed to retaliate.
“This is not a military coup, but a march of justice,” Prigozhin said. “Our actions do not interfere with the troops in any way.”
Russian authorities have accused Prigozhin of fomenting a coup after he posted a video earlier on Friday, saying that the Russian military was lying about the reasons for the war in Ukraine.
“Prigozhin’s statements and actions are in fact a call to start an armed civil conflict on the territory of the Russian Federation and a stab in the back to Russian servicemen fighting pro-fascist Ukrainian forces,” the FSB said in a statement, according to The Guardian.
The BBC reported that Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the deputy head of the Russian forces in Ukraine, whose leadership Prigozhin has praised in the past, called on him to “stop the convoys and return them to their bases”.
“We are of one blood, we are warriors,” he said in a video. “You mustn’t play into the enemy’s hands at a time that is difficult for our country.”
In his video earlier on Friday, Prigozhin accused the Russian elite of pillaging the Donbas since 2014. He accused them of wanting more of Ukraine, and then lying about the reasons for the war.
“The Ministry of Defense is trying to deceive the public, deceive the president and tell a story that there was some crazy aggression by Ukraine, that — together with the whole NATO bloc — Ukraine was planning to attack us,” he said.
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