On June 23, in the telegram channel of the press service of the founder of PMC Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, it was reported that a missile attack was carried out on the rear positions of the PMC fighters. He blamed the Ministry of Defense for this. The agency called the businessman’s statement an “informational provocation”. A case has been brought against Prigozhin “for calling for an armed rebellion”, and the Russian president called the PMC’s actions a stab in the back. What foreign officials and the press write about the situation is in the Russian media selection.
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev:
Current events are an internal affair of Russia. Constitutional order and the rule of law are a sine qua non for the maintenance of public order in the country. This is the basis of the company’s security and successful development.
UK Foreign Office:
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Department (FCDO) continues to advise against travel through Russia. Military tensions have been reported in the Rostov region. Also, there are no flight options available to return to the UK.
UK Ministry of Defence:
In the coming hours, the loyalty of the Russian security forces, and in particular the National Guard, will be decisive in the unfolding of the crisis.
Polish President Andrzej Duda:
In the context of the situation in Russia, we had consultations this morning with the Prime Minister and the Ministry of National Defence, as well as with allies. The course of events beyond our eastern border is under constant observation.
France Media Agency :
The President (of France Emmanuel Macron) is closely monitoring the situation. We remain focused on supporting Ukraine.
The New York Times (NYT):
Prigozhin’s long-running feud with Russian military leaders has turned into an open confrontation, creating “the biggest challenge to Putin’s authority” since the start of the military operation, the newspaper writes.
Prigozhin repeatedly criticized Russian military authorities, but on June 23 he took his accusations to a new level, the article said. Previously, Prigozhin had never accused the army of attacking its fighters and had never spoken in such harsh terms about the reasons for launching a military operation. In this, the head of Wagner “went the furthest” from representatives of Russian power circles, according to the NYT.
According to the publication, the situation also marks a “staggering collapse” in Prigozhin’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Washington Post (WP):
Friday’s statement by Prigozhin was an “extraordinary hostile challenge” to Russian military authorities and indicated that the hostility “is about to escalate into open warfare”, the newspaper writes.
According to the publication, with his accusations, the founder of the Wagner PMC “crossed a new red line” and went beyond the usual arguments against the military leadership.
Policy :
The publication calls the situation around Prigozhin a “serious military crisis” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The feud between Prigozhin and the Russian Defense Ministry has been building for months, but now appears to have reached a breaking point.
Associated Press (AP):
“On Friday, Yevgeny Prigozhin seems to have gone too far. <…> With his crude words, he dared to go where only Putin used to go,” the agency noted.
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