Tensions in the nation have increased as a result of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group in Russia, accusing the Russian military of attacking a Wagner camp and pledging to retaliate.
When Prigozhin, 62, accused the Russian military of being incompetent in regards to the invasion of Ukraine and later accused the Russian military of a missile attack at his camp on Friday, which he claimed killed 2,000 fighters, tensions between the group and Russia erupted in recent weeks, according to NBC News.
“Those who destroyed our lads, who destroyed the lives of many tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, will be punished. I ask that no one offer resistance,” Prigozhin said on his Telegram channel, per the outlet.
“The war was needed for a bunch of scumbags to triumph and show how strong of an army they are,” Prigozhin also claimed on Friday, according to Politico. He also speculated that Russia’s defense minister wanted a promotion.
Vladimir Putin and Prigozhin are related because the Wagner leader used to serve the president state dinners and earned the moniker “Putin’s chef,” according to Politico.
According to NBC News, Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev described Prigozhin’s orders as a “coup d’état” after Putin accused him of trying to instigate a “armed mutiny” and “betraying his country and people.”
Prigozhin threatened to retaliate on Friday with “force,” according to CNN, and declared he would “destroy” any resistance.
“There are 25,000 of us, and we are going to find out why there is such chaos in the country,” he added, later claiming that it was a “march of justice,” rather than a coup.
Since then, according to Prigozhin, Wagner fighters have entered the Rostov region of Russia, home to the southern military command of the nation, threatening to blockade Rostov-on-Don unless he meets with defence minister Sergei Shoigu and general Valery Gerasimov, CNN reported.
Later, in a speech, 70-year-old Putin called Prigozhin’s actions “treason” and warned that the threat would be met with a “severe response” from the nation. In response, Prigozhin referred to his fighters as “patriots of our Motherland” on Telegram and said they would not be surrendering.
Eventually, the Russian Federal Security Service filed a criminal complaint against Prighozhin and instructed his fighters to place him under arrest.
According to CNN, “Prigozhin’s statements and actions are actually calls for the outbreak of an armed civil war on Russian Federation territory and are a stab in the back of Russian servicemen fighting pro-fascist Ukrainian forces.”