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He claimed Russia had faced no immediate threat from Ukraine when Putin began his full-scale invasion last year and accused the army’s top brass of deceiving the Russian president for their own personal gain.
The rant, posted on social media on Friday evening UK time, is the latest instalment of Prigozhin’s long-running spat with defence minister Sergei Shoigu, who he has accused of sabotaging the war effort together with Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s general staff.
“There was nothing out of the ordinary on February 24,” Prigozhin said, referring to the day Putin ordered the invasion.
“The defence ministry is trying to deceive the president and society by saying Ukraine was going mad with aggression and was planning to attack us together with the whole NATO bloc.”
“For some reason, this bunch of idiots thought they were so smart-arsed that nobody would understand what they were up to or stop them on their way to Kyiv.”
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Russian state media reported that the FSB, Russia’s security services, had opened a criminal case against Prigozhin, accusing him of “calling for an armed rebellion”.
The defence ministry said in a statement that “all reports by Prigozhin spread on social media” of Russian strikes on Wagner camps were “not true and are an information provocation”.
The Wagner Group has been fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine but in recent months, Prigozhin has become increasingly vocal in his criticism of Russia’s military leadership. He said in the recording that he had 25,000 men under arms but also considers the entire army, and the entire Russian society, his strategic reserve.
General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s Ukraine campaign, released a video address ordering the mercenaries to remain loyal to Putin.
“I urge you to stop,” Surovikin, who was previously reported to be close to Prigozhin, said. “The enemy is just waiting for the internal political situation to worsen in our country.”
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