Yevgeny Prigozhin, the commander of the Wagner, has spoken out for the first time since the weekend’s aborted military coup.
In an 11-minute audio recording he posted, he claims that no one consented to a contract being signed with the defence ministry and that his mercenary organisation was obligated to suspend operations on July 1.
When he announced that his men would march on Moscow, Prigozhin made it plain that he wasn’t targeting Putin, saying: “We didn’t march to overthrow Russia’s leadership.”
In his video message, he says: ‘The aim of the march was to avoid destruction of Wagner and to hold to account the officials who through their unprofessional actions have committed a massive number of errors’.
He says Wagner regrets ‘they had to hit Russian aviation’ and they turned around ‘to avoid spilling blood of Russian soldiers.’