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By Thomas Kika
Weekend Staff Writer
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Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian oligarch and leader of the Wagner Group mercenary outfit, spoke out for the first time on Monday after the abrupt end to his attempted mutiny against the Kremlin.
On Friday, Prigozhin called for his forces to wage war against the Russian Ministry of Defense, claiming that the Russian military had attacked some Wagner troops stationed in Ukraine, killing many. The mercenary army claimed to have taken control of military sites in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don before beginning a march north toward Moscow.
The mutiny, which was described as both an attempted coup and an armed insurrection by some, came to an abrupt end on Saturday when it was reported that Prigozhin had accepted a deal brokered with help from the Belarusian government. As part of this agreement, Wagner forces would de-escalate in exchange for certain safety guarantees, while Prigozhin himself agreed to leave the country and reside in Belarus.
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On Monday, Prigozhin broke his silence in a series of audio recordings shared on his official Telegram account. In the clips, he insisted that his intent was not for his forces to target Russian President Vladimir Putin or overthrow the totality of the Russian government.
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"We didn't march to overthrow Russia's leadership," Prigozhin said, according to a translation of the audio from BBC News. "The aim of the march was to avoid destruction of Wagner and to hold to account the officials who through their unprofessional actions have committed a massive number of errors."
Prigozhin claimed the Wagner Group "categorically" opposed the part of the deal that aimed "to close Wagner on July 1, 2023, and to incorporate it into the [Russian] defense ministry." The outfit's commanders, he claimed, refused to accept contracts with the ministry.
The oligarch further confirmed the involvement of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in brokering the deal to end the mutiny, stating that the leader "extended his hand and offered to find ways for Wagner to continue its work legally."
Prigozhin also used the clip to continue sharing criticisms of the Russian military, claiming that Wagner's brief mutiny showed "serious security problems across the entire country" and claiming that the invasion of Ukraine would have been more successful if his troops had carried out the first attacks.
Speaking with Newsweek, retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis discussed what he found "illuminating" about the audio from Prigozhin.
"The new recording from Prigozhin is illuminating for what it said as well as what it implied, Davis wrote. "He emphatically claimed this was never about toppling Putin, which is largely consistent with his messaging throughout the crisis. Even in his most vitriolic anger during the uprising, he specified this was not about upending the political order in the Kremlin and ousting Putin, but to 'bring justice'— never actually defined—to [the Ministry of Defense (MoD)]."
He continued: "Yet in the recording, he seems to have given a clue as to his motivation: being slotted for disbandment as of July 1 (at least as it had been organized). The MoD was apparently going to retake control of Wagner after the successful capture of Bakhmut to get rid of the thorn in their side of Prigozhin by requiring the men to sign contracts, not with Prigozhin and his PMC, but with MoD, effectively taking Prigozhin out of the chain of command. He refused to tolerate that and took a life-and-death risk to try to retain control."
The Wagner leader notably appeared to go silent after announcing that his troops would be standing down on Saturday, not releasing public statements until sharing the audio on Monday. This prompted some speculation about his whereabouts and intentions. Prigozhin has not revealed his location in any of the posts he made on Monday.
Updated 6/26/2023, 6:07 p.m. ET: This article was updated to include insight from a foreign defense expert.
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