Oneida dispatch obit valenzano9/10/2023 Prigozhin’s blistering criticism went on even though the Kremlin vigorously cracks down on other critics through fines and imprisonment. The dispute has been followed closely, however, by politically active, ultrapatriotic Russians on social media networks who share his contempt for military leaders. But in a shift, Channel 1 showed an unscheduled news broadcast Friday that cited the Defense Ministry’s rejection of Prigozhin’s claim and describing as fake a video he posted that allegedly showed the aftermath of a rocket strike on a Wagner camp. The conflict has been ignored by state-controlled TV, where most Russians get their news. Some saw that failure to squelch the infighting as a sign of potential shifts in Russia’s political scene that sets the stage for more internal battles. Until now, Prigozhin’s rants against the military have been met with silence from Putin and the brass. Prigozhin’s statement was a “stab in the back of the Russian troops,” the FSB said, and amounted to fomenting armed conflict in Russia. Then the National Anti-Terrorism Committee, an arm of Federal Security Service, or FSB, announced the investigation against the outspoken millionaire and urged Wagner’s own forces to arrest their boss. The Defense Ministry denied it had attacked Prigozhin’s troops. “Justice in the armed forces will be restored, and then justice will be restored in all of Russia.” “The evil embodied by the country’s military leadership must be stopped,” he shouted in a recorded statement, adding that his forces weren’t seeking to challenge Putin and other government structures. Prigozhin said his men would punish the military leaders who ordered the strike and said his troops would fire at any troops trying to stop them. Prigozhin, 62, insisted his actions were not “a military coup, but a march of justice.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin has been informed about the situation, adding: “All the necessary measures were being taken.” It was a startling turn of events in Moscow: After more than two decades of rigidly controlled rule by Putin, the worst infighting spilled out in the open among his top lieutenants.Īnd it came as the war in Ukraine reached the 16-month mark and Kyiv’s forces were probing Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive. That’s when Russian authorities struck back, with the country’s top counterterrorism organization launching a criminal inquiry against Prigozhin and calling for his arrest on charges of fomenting an “armed rebellion” over threats to oust Shoigu. ![]() He even made what some considered a thinly veiled jab at President Vladimir Putin as an oblivious “granddad” thinking the invasion was going well. Those who don’t give us ammunition will be eaten alive in hell!” “You are sitting in your expensive clubs, your children are enjoying good living and filming videos on YouTube. “They came here as volunteers and they died to let you lounge in your mahogany offices,” Prigozhin declared. Valery Gerasimov, calling them weak and incompetent, blaming them for the carnage. Yevgeny Prigozhin accused them of not providing him with munitions in the key battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut.Ī video in May showed him standing in front of the bloodied bodies of his slain troops yelling obscenities at Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the General Staff Gen. ![]() ![]() For months, the outspoken millionaire head of the Wagner private mercenary force bombarded Russia’s military leaders with expletive-ridden insults in a rift that has weakened the country’s forces amid the war in Ukraine.
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