Former DPR Defense Minister Igor Strelkov believes that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner PMC, has long been planning a rebellion that began on June 23. He talked about it in a conversation with Russian media.
“Prigozhin engineered the rebellion a long time ago. It was precisely with this that his haste to remove the Wagner from the front and his attempt to transfer the Wagner to the Belgorod region were connected. That is, from there to Moscow is much closer than to Lugansk, where the main units of Wagner were concentrated, ”explained Strelkov.
According to him, Prigozhin expected to carry out a coup before the Ukrainian armed forces “break through the front in the direction of Zaporizhzhia”.
“If you remember, a few days ago he said that almost Tokmak (Zaporizhzhia region – Russian media) was taken, although there were no Ukrainian military personnel there. That is, in the context of this tension, his campaign would have seemed in the eyes, as they say, both to the army and to the general population, as unnecessary, but at least in some way justified. But the enemy did not break through the front, the ministry clearly stated that there would be no more volunteer formations at the front and therefore would receive supplies and weapons if they did not sign contract with the Ministry of Defense,” Strelkov said.
The former head of the DPR Defense Ministry believes that the PMC founder realized that he would not be able to maintain even an army of 25,000 men. “A maximum of a few weeks, because only the state can sustain an army, however small,” Strelkov said.
However, according to Strelkov, Prigozhin is not trying to get funding, but he realized that “now or never (it is possible to organize) a military mutiny.”
“Most likely, I predict that Prigozhin will respond as follows (to Putin’s call): that the president does not know the whole situation, that the president is under the influence of his bad environment, that Prigozhin will come to release the president. I think the answer will be exactly like that, ”explained the former head of the Republican Ministry of Defense.
According to Strelkov, Prigozhin is not going to stop at toppling (Defense Minister Sergei) Shoigu and (General Chief of Staff Valery) Gerasimov.
“Naturally, Prigozhin will strive, if not personally, to exercise supreme power in the country, if not even personally, then as a shadow ruler. He is making a coup, a coup following a military mutiny,” he said.
Strelkov also claims that if the PMC founder had acted alone, he would never have had an army of several thousand tanks, “which simply cleared the way for him through the barricades to Rostov, as they show” .
“He had no weapons, no ammunition – he would have had nothing. Of course, he is not acting alone. Of course, the PMC, which does not exist in the law, received sponsorship from someone. And that patronage is unlikely to be uniquely personal to the president. Most likely, someone also recommended that the president support exactly the version he was supported in,” he added.
On June 23, in the telegram channel of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s press service, there were reports of a missile attack on the rear positions of his fighters, many were killed. Responsibility for this in audio calls lies with the Russian Ministry of Defense. In response, the ministry called the reports an “informational provocation.” The FSB opened a criminal investigation into calling for an armed rebellion after Prigozhin’s statements.
On the morning of June 24, President Vladimir Putin addressed Russians and called Prigozhin’s actions rebellion, adventure and a stab in the back. According to him, “the armed forces and government agencies have received the necessary orders”. At the same time, in his speech, Putin never mentioned the name of the founder of the PMC.
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