Wagner chief breaks silence after aborted Russia rebellion

Shafaq News/ Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has said he “didn’t want to overthrow the government” in his first spoken comments since launching an alleged mutiny against President Vladimir Putin.

In an audio statement issued on Monday evening, Prigozhin denied trying to attack the Russian state and said he acted in response to an attack on his force that killed some 30 of his fighters.

Russia was plunged into crisis on Saturday after Wagner forces left Ukraine and began to move hundreds of miles towards Moscow on a “march for justice”. It followed a bitter, long-running feud between Prigozhin and Russia’s military brass.

Prigozhin later agreed to halt the march towards the capital under a deal brokered by Belaruasian president Alexander Lukashenko.

“We went as a demonstration of protest, not to overthrow the government of the country,” Prigozhin said in an 11-minute audio.

“Our march showed many things we discussed earlier: the serious problems with security in the country.”

He did not offer any details about where he was or what his future plans are.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that Prigozhin had publicly destroyed Putin’s case for the war in Ukraine and that the march was an “unprecedented challenge” to the President’s authority.

“Cracks are emerging in Russian support for the war,” he told parliament on Monday.

Russia’s three main news agencies reported on Monday that a criminal case against Prigozhin had not been closed, despite an offer of immunity having been publicised as part of the deal that persuaded him to stand down.