It's a shocking provocation in a country where Russian President Vladimir Putin is firmly in control: a convoy of mercenary soldiers heading to the capital Moscow calls for the resignation of security chiefs. The Wagner Group's weekend expedition ended before a possible confrontation with the Russian army. But experts say it exposed weaknesses in Putin's government and raised questions about the future of the private military industry which is a key factor behind some of Russia's successes in conflict zones around the world. The leader of this mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in an audio message released on Monday that Wagner's goal was not to overthrow the Russian government but to protest against the elimination of the private military industry and draw attention to Russia's failure. legal war in Ukraine. The mercenary group did not want to fight the Russian army, he added and fought the Russian army when they attacked Wagner's army from the air.
Prigozhin also said that the ease with which Wagner's column traveled to Moscow - when he said that his army was 120 kilometers from the city - showed confusion in the Ministry of Defense. In Prigozhin's words, his troops have made a "master class" of how Russian troops should take over Ukraine when they invade in February 2022. Prigozhin said he ordered his troops to return to Moscow late Saturday because moving forward could mean fighting Russian forces. Nicknamed "Putin's Boss," Prigozhin was once a close friend of Putin, and Wagner's group has been an important part of Russia's military alliance with Ukraine and other parts of the world, including Africa and the United States and South America. But Prigozhin's weekend mutiny against the Russian military's main force may have boosted the soldier's fortunes. Prigozhin will not be charged with the crime, according to the Kremlin, but Putin has called him a "traitor" and Russian officials have said he will travel to neighboring Belarus. At the moment, it is not known whether the Wagner Group will be expanded and how such an effect may be in Ukraine and other places where Wagner mercenaries operate. President Biden said on Monday that he was working with his team to coordinate their response to Russia's position that the United States was not involved in the rebellion, saying that the United States had nothing to do with that.
