Russia: Wagner Group Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin Defends Revolt, Says Society Demanded It

In first comments since ending his revolt and march to Moscow, Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin defened his mutiny and said the society demanded it. 

Prigozhin repeated the earlier line that it was not a coup but a march against "injustice". It's a reference to alleged attacks on his troops by Russian miltiary that killed 30 personnel and, as per him, was what led to his actions. 

On Friday, Prigozhin relased a series of statements and began his armed rebellion that would go on to become the most serious blow to the authority of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has run Russia for over two decades. He captured two key Russian cities and the Russian military headquarters at Rostov-on-Don that oversees the Russian war efforts in Ukraine. His private military reached within 200 kms before he ordered it to halt late Saturday.

In a 11-minute statement, Prigozhin said his revolt was not against Putin but he continued his criticism of Russian defence leaders, according to Guardian.

For months, Prigozhin had been critical of Russian defence leadership and had accused them of adversely affecting Wagner Group's operations in Ukraine. The private military of Wagner Group has been at the helm of some of the bloodiest fighting in Ukraine and has delivered the biggest victories to Russia in recent months, including in the months-long grinding war of attrition in Bakhmut and also in Soledar. 

In his statement, Prigozhin said there are "serious problems with security on the whole territory of our country", according to Guardian.

It has been reported that Prigozhin's main targets of the revolt were Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov. 

Guardian reported Prigozhin as saying that his private military's march against Moscow was a "demonstration of our protest" against the "injustice" from the Russian defence leadership, referring to the attacks on his personnel that he claimed. The Russian government has denied any such attack.

"It was not our goal to overthrow the regime...We stopped at that moment, when it became clear that much blood would be spilled. That’s why we believe that the demonstration of what we were planning to do was enough. Our decision to turn back had two factors: we didn’t want to spill Russian blood. Secondly, we marched as a demonstration of our protest," Guardian quoted Prigozhin as saying.

Prigozhin further said, "The goal of the march was to not allow the destruction of the Wagner private military company and hold to account the officials who through their unprofessional actions have committed a massive number of errors. Society demanded it."

Prigozhin also said that Russian military personnel were killed in confrontation with Wagner personnel. He said that the Russian military was hitting his personnel with bombs and rockets. 

In further defiance of Russian defence leadership, Prigozhin said that the way Wagner Group marched to Moscow is a "masterclass" in how Russia should have carried out its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 

Though Prigozhin and Wagner Group's mutiny was short and ended without much material damage in a deal, experts have said that Putin's authority has nonetheless been weakened. The mutiny shows that Putin does not have the irongrip control over the Russian elite and their feuds. The fact that Wagner Group personnel reached within 200 kms of Moscow also shows serious security vulnerabilities in Russia.