Russian security services open investigation against Wagner boss for ‘call for mutiny’

The leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner accused, on Friday June 23, the Russian army of having carried out deadly strikes on its fighters behind the Ukrainian front, calling for an uprising against the military command, earning him immediate under investigation for appeal “to armed mutiny”.

“The allegations disseminated in the name of Yevgeny Prigozhin have no basis. In connection with these, the FSB (Russian security services) has opened an investigation for a call for armed mutiny”, said the National Anti-Terrorism Committee of Russia, in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies.

“Very large number of victims”

For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin “is informed of all the events around (Evgeny) Prigojine. The necessary measures are being taken”, reacted the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, quoted by the agency TASS.

Previously, Wagner’s boss had claimed that Russian strikes had made a “very large number of victims within the ranks of his group. “They carried out strikes, missile strikes, on our rear camps,” Yevgeny Prigojine said in an audio message. He promised to “respond” to these attacks ordered, according to him, by the Russian Minister of Defence, stressing that he was not pleading for a “military coup” but he wanted a “walk for justice”.

These charges “on alleged ‘strikes by the Russian Ministry of Defense on rear bases of the paramilitary group Wagner’ do not correspond to reality and are a provocation”retorted the Russian Ministry of Defense in a press release.

This dramatic new exchange between the two entities at the heart of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine again exposes the deep tensions within Russian forces linked to the Ukrainian conflict.