The founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led the rebellion that nearly reached Moscow, said in a statement released on Monday that his troops had no intention of overthrowing the Russian government, but instead demonstrated weaknesses in Russian security.
Source: Reuters
In his first public comments since leaving the Rostov occupied by his men, Prigozhin said his fighters had allegedly stopped their campaign to prevent bloodshed.
"We came out to protest, not to overthrow the government," Prigozhin said in an 11-minute audio message posted on Telegram.
"Our march showed a lot of what we talked about earlier: serious security problems in the country," he said.
According to him, "the purpose of the march was to prevent the destruction of the Wagner PMC and to bring to justice all those who, through their unprofessional actions, made a huge number of mistakes during the SVO."
He stated that if the "JFO" had been carried out under his leadership from the very beginning, the government in Ukraine would have been taken over "in a day."
According to him, the Wagner PMC was allegedly going to disarm on June 30, but his militants were attacked, killing about 30 people.
"We did not want to shed Russian blood. We went to demonstrate our protest, not to overthrow the government in the country," Prigozhin said.
Prigozhin emphasized that the locals greeted the Wagnerians with enthusiasm, as they hoped that they would solve problems, including corruption.
He emphasized that no one was injured on the ground as a result of his actions.
Meanwhile, earlier it was reported that the losses of the Russian army as a result of the military mutiny could have been up to 20 people. In addition, at least six combat helicopters and one airplane were destroyed by Wagner mercenaries.
Although it was previously reported that Prigozhin would go to Belarus, according to the agreement, he did not mention his current whereabouts.
Prigozhin shocked the world by leading an armed rebellion that ended as suddenly as it began when his fighters approached the capital, marching nearly 1,000 kilometers in a day.
Three of Russia's main news agencies reported on Monday that the criminal case against Prigozhin has not been closed, despite the fact that the deal included granting him immunity.