Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has made himself heard again. For a week it remained dead silent on the Telegram channel of his company Konkord, where he posted one message after another shortly before his rebellion. But now – via another Telegram channel – an audio clip has been shared for the first time in which he speaks. In it he sounds “defeated”, according to analysts.
LOOK. This is how Prigozhin’s message sounds:
The Telegram channel in which his new voice message was posted is ‘Grey Zone’. It sympathizes with the Wagner group and, just after the march on Moscow had been broken off, posted an illustration by Prigozhin, which made it appear that the boss of the Wagner group was up to something.
Since then, however, it has been quiet. Until now. In the new 41-second audio clip, Prigozhin asks for support. “We need your support today more than ever. Thank you for that”, you can hear him say. “I want you to understand that our ‘March of Justice’ was to fight traitors and mobilize our society. And I think we accomplished a lot of that.”
He also looks ahead to the future. “I am sure that in the near future you will see our next victories at the front. Thanks guys!”
It is not clear when exactly the clip was recorded. The Wagner boss also does not say a word about where he is now, something that is still unclear.
Earlier today, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu also spoke out. He said the Wagner group’s “brief uprising” last month had no impact on Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. It was the first time he had responded to the mutiny. Shoygu also said the uprising was designed to destabilize Russia but failed because of the troops’ loyalty.
Valeri Gerasimov – the chief of staff of the Russian armed forces – has still not appeared in public since the Wagner group uprising. In addition to Shoigu’s resignation, Prigozhin had also asked for Gerasimov’s resignation, but the Kremlin indicated soon after the end of the mutiny that nothing would happen.
Prigozhin has played an important role in the Russian offensive in Ukraine in recent months, in particular in the siege of the city of Bachmut. After months of bloody fighting, he succeeded in taking the city, but at the cost of tens of thousands of his mercenaries.
Feud
His feud with the leadership of the regular Russian army came to a head on June 24. Then he marched with his fighters to Moscow, after he said he was attacked by Russian troops. The protest stopped just one day after the mediation of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, after which Prigozhin withdrew and disappeared from the scene.
A double, three false names and millions in cash: this is how Yevgeny Prigozhin now escapes attention (+)
“Nothing to do with Ukraine.” This is the true cause of the feud between Wagner and the army leadership (+)
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss a thing of the stars.