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The Friday Rebellion Yevgeny Prigozhinthe head of the private military group Wagnerwas the culmination of a long dispute with the Russian Defense Minister, Sergey Shoigu, which goes back even to the war in Syria. This fight escalated in recent months, in the context of the invasion of Ukrainewith the powerful oligarch hurling expletive-laced insults at senior Russian military officers for setbacks at the front and for failing to receive the ammunition he was requesting for his mercenaries on time.
On Friday Prigozhin, 62, went quite far. Through a video, she accused shoigu to order a rocket attack against the camps Wagner which killed an unknown number of combatants. He announced reprisals, called for an uprising against the Russian army, said that military officials had to be “stopped” and promised to “go all the way”. He added that thousands of his militiamen were heading to Moscow.
LOOK: “The rebellion of the Wagner Group is a very clear sign that Putin is getting weaker”
In the video, Yevgeny Prigozhinwho is an ally of the president Vladimir PutinHe also said that the Kremlin’s justification for invading Ukraine was based on lies invented by the high command of the army.
He argued that actually Russia is losing ground on the battlefield.
In response, the Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it opened a criminal case against Prigozhin for calling an armed riot.
On Saturday, the wagner group seized control of the Russian city of rostov-on-donin the south of the country, from where Russia directs the operations to face the counter-offensive of Ukraine.
It also seized military installations in the city of Voronezh, located about 500 kilometers south of Moscow.
the troops of Prigozhin advanced until they were only 200 kilometers from the capital of Russia, before the head of the wagner group order the withdrawal after the mediation of the president of belarusAlexander Lukashenko.
Next, the keys to the dispute between Prigozhin and the Russian military high command:
The EFE agency recalls that during the Russian military campaign in the civil war in Syria, Yevgeny Prigozhin repeatedly accused Sergey Shoigu to use “archaic methods”.
The boss of the wagner group blamed the Russian military command for having attacked the positions of its mercenaries in palmyra. He also accused Moscow of deliberately provoking a bombardment by American aircraft against the mercenaries during the battle of khashamin 2018.
shoigu responded to Prigozhinand accused him of having provided the Russian army in Syria with poor quality food, when he had catering contracts with Russia.
As detailed by EFE, the wagner group joined the invasion of Ukraine from the start of the operation, in February 2022. But his role gained relevance when he took the city of solderin the Ukrainian region of Donetskafter several setbacks by the Russian army. Prigozhin He claimed that victory and criticized the Ministry of Defense for not giving his men due credit.
Said the military leadership was “appropriating” the merits of the Wagner Group.
“They constantly try to steal victory from Wagner”he pointed.
But the situation became irreconcilable in the midst of the struggle for bakhmutheaded by the mercenaries of Wagner and which is considered one of the bloodiest so far in the war of Ukraine.
Prigozhin constantly complained about the lack of ammunition supply by the Ministry of Defense and directly accused shoigu and the chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, of treason. He also called them weak and incompetent.
The oligarch said that shoigu and Gerasimov refused to deliver ammunition to Wagner deliberately and that both would answer for it before the mothers and wives of the deceased combatants.
Even in one of the videos where he lashed out at the Russian military high command, Prigozhin it appeared along with numerous corpses of alleged mercenaries killed in combat.
“They appeared here as volunteers and believed to allow you to rest in their mahogany offices.”shout Prigozhin. “You are sitting in your expensive clubs, your children enjoying the good life and shooting videos on YouTube. Those who don’t give us ammunition will be eaten alive in hell!” she said.
Prigozhin also targeted the president putin in a video, although without mentioning his name. He said that while his men were dying on the battlefield due to the Ministry of Defense’s inability to supply them with ammunition, a “happy grandpa thinks he is doing well”. Then she referred to that “grandfather” with an obscenity, reported the AP agency.
The comment caused a stir on social media, where it was seen as a clear reference to putin. Given this, Prigozhin later assured that he spoke of Gerasimov.
“Prigozhin now says much riskier things than he has said before”Nigel Gould-Davies, a researcher for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told the AP agency.
Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political commentator, described Prigozhin as “the second most popular man after Putin” and a “symbol of the military victory of Russia for millions of people.”
Before the rebellion Prigozhin had refused to let the mercenaries of the wagner group signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense to subordinate themselves to shoiguas required by the minister, who on this issue has the backing of putin.
Prigozhin He pointed out that his troops “would not walk the path of shame.”
He asked angrily and ironically shoigu if also the 20,000 mercenaries who died in bakhmut they had to sign a contract, detailed EFE.
qualified to shoigu of “trembling grandpa” who would have to be tried for the death of “tens of thousands of young people.”
An analysis by the AP agency maintains that putin need mercenaries Prigozhin at a time when Russia’s regular Armed Forces are still reeling from the setbacks in the Ukrainian war.
The Wagner Group’s victory at Bakhmut last month has strengthened Prigozhin and for this reason he openly criticizes the Russian military high command.
in the battle of bakhmut and on other war fronts Wagner he used thousands of convicted prisoners, who were promised a pardon if they survived six months of fighting.
In an interview in May, Prigozhin said it had recruited 50,000 inmates, of which 10,000 lost their lives in just bakhmut. The other 10,000 who died were private contractors.
Sergey Shoigu is considered the big loser after what happened in recent days in Russia and a report from the AFP agency indicates that could have the hours counted at the head of the Ministry of Defense.
shoigu68 years old, has a long career in the Armed Forces and in politics Russia.
According to AFP, his rise began in 1994, when he was appointed Minister of Emergency Situations in the early years of Boris Yeltsin’s presidency.
In 2012 he was appointed Governor of the Moscow Region, before being appointed Minister of Defense by Vladimir Putin in the same year 2012.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
