Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves the headquarters of the Southern Military District amid the group's pullout from the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on Saturday, June 24. Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin released new audio Monday explaining his decision to turn around his march on Moscow.
Prigozhin said he wanted to avoid Russian bloodshed and also said the march was a demonstration of protest and not intended to overturn power in the country.
This is Prigozhin's first audio message since announcing on Saturday night that his column was turning back "to avoid bloodshed."
"Overnight, we have walked 780 kilometers (about 484 miles). Two hundred-something kilometers (about 125 miles) were left to Moscow," Prigozhin claimed in the latest audio message, despite no evidence the Wagner forces made it that close to the Russian capital. “Not a single soldier on the ground was killed."
“We regret that we were forced to strike on aircraft," he said. "...but these aircraft dropped bombs and launched missile strikes."
The Wagner boss also claimed in the audio message that about 30 of his fighters died in the Russian military's attack on the mercenary group on Friday. Prigozhin said the attack came days before Wagner was due to leave its positions on June 30 to hand over equipment to the Southern Military District in Rostov, Russia.
The purpose of his forces' march toward Moscow, the Wagner boss said, was to prevent the "destruction" of the private military company, and "to bring to justice those who, through their unprofessional actions, made a huge number of mistakes during the special military operation."
Prigozhin said the march stopped when the detachment "made a reconnaissance of the area, and it was obvious that at that moment a lot of blood would be shed. We felt that demonstrating what we were going to do was sufficient."
"At this time, Alexander Lukashenko extended his hand and offered to find solutions for the further work of Wagner PMC in legal jurisdiction," he added.
More background: Prigozhin had agreed to leave Russia for Belarus on Saturday following a deal apparently brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko which ended the armed rebellion.
According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Lukashenko had suggested the deal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to help resolve the brief mutiny, during a telephone conversation on Saturday morning in order to "avoid the great bloodshed that would inevitably occur if the rebel detachments continued to move toward Moscow. This proposal was supported by President Putin."
Derkadur97 on June 26th, 2023 at 16:32 UTC »
I’m curious how this will resonate with Russias allies. They can say whatever they want publicly, but I would be pretty worried if my trade partner started having a mutiny in the middle of a war they assured they would win over a year ago.
turkeypants on June 26th, 2023 at 16:28 UTC »
"I only sent an armored column racing toward Moscow and blasted Russian helicopters out of the sky because I frustrated. In the end we are all family though."
YellowStain123 on June 26th, 2023 at 15:31 UTC »
Statement: Prigozhin makes first statement since the end of the so called “March for justice” the English transcript can be found here. It’s really not even worth reading though. Prigozhin kind of talked in circles and there’s no new important information other than what can be deduced based on what happened. The one thing of note is that he claims the MoD was going to disband Wagner on July 1st, most others on Twitter have interpreted it as him saying he will disband Wagner on July 1st but that’s not how I read it.
Prigozhin said nothing conclusive on the future of Wagner or the Russian MoD.
Also there was a video of Shoigu released today by the MoD but it’s very short and has no audio. To me it does not dispel the rumors he’s been put in house arrest and will soon be replaced.
Putin is also yet to be seen publicly or make statements, just based on Prigozhin making a statement today I’d guess Putin will make his own statement this afternoon (in eastern time, it’s night time in Moscow) or late this night (in eastern time, when it’s early morning in Moscow).
Edit: Putin has finally put out his own statement. (I was correct about when ;) In it he said Wagner forces would have to sign with MoD or go to Belarus. It would seem then that the deal Lukashenko made between Putin and Prygozhin allowed Wagner to continue existing so long as it worked out of Belarus, not Russia. Unclear what the long term effect will be.