(Dan Tri) – The owner of the private military company Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin spoke for the first time about the rebellion last weekend, declaring that this group has no intention of overthrowing the government in Russia.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of private military company Wagner (Photo: Twitter).
Boss Wagner Prigozhin on June 26 gave two reasons why he decided to order the forces under his command to turn back to the barracks while moving towards Moscow during the rebellion last weekend.
In addition, he said the incident was intended to demonstrate opposition and was not intended to overthrow the government in Russia.
This is Prigozhin’s first comment since he ordered Wagner forces to return to the barracks on the evening of June 24.
`We traveled 780km overnight. There are about 200km left to reach Moscow. We regret attacking the (Russian) planes but these planes dropped bombs and launched missiles,` he said.
`Fear of the Wagner force being wiped out`
He said the riot was aimed at preventing the Wagner forces from being eliminated and `bringing to justice those who, through their unprofessional actions, made mistakes during the implementation of the war.`
Boss Wagner also accused the Russian Ministry of Defense of planning to end the existence of this private military company from July 1.
`No one agreed to sign a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense because everyone understood the actual situation and thought that this (signing the contract) could lead to a scenario of losing combat ability,` Mr. Prigozin said.
He said some members of Wagner have agreed to sign contracts with the Department of Defense, but that is only a small portion.
Mr. Prigozhin said the `march` on Moscow stopped when Wagner `carried out a reconnaissance of the area and realized at that time that there would probably be a lot of blood shed. We felt that the actions
`At that time, (Belarus President) Alexander Lukashenko proposed to find a solution for the Wagner force within the scope of legal jurisdiction,` he added.
With Mr. Lukashenko’s mediation, Wagner agreed to withdraw his troops to the barracks.
According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Mr. Lukashenko proposed an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to help resolve the mutiny to `avoid a bloody scenario if Wagner continues to advance toward Moscow. This proposal was approved by President Putin.`
Wagner is a force that plays an important role in Russia’s military operations in Eastern Ukraine, especially at the Bakhmut battlefield.
However, the relationship between Wagner and the Russian military became tense recently when Wagner said that Moscow did not provide enough weapons and ammunition, causing them great losses in manpower.