Wagner Leader Releases New Statement

After attempting to stage a coup in Russia over what it views as mistakes by President Vladimir Putin, the leader of the Wagner private military group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has issued a new statement on why he has already ordered his forces to stop the mutiny.

As reported:

The leader of the Wagner mercenary group defended his short-lived insurrection in a boastful audio statement Monday, but uncertainty still swirled about his fate, as well as that of senior Russian military leaders, the impact on the war in Ukraine, and even the political future of President Vladimir Putin . . . In an 11-minute audio statement, Yevgeny Prigozhin said he acted “to prevent the destruction of the Wagner private military company” and said he acted in response to an attack on a Wagner camp that killed some 30 of his fighters.

“We started our march because of an injustice,” Prigozhin said in the recording that gave no details about where he is or what his future plans are.

The Wagner group is a known private mercenary army that has to date fought alongside the Russian military in Ukraine. While here in the U.S. we might think the idea of using mercenaries is unusual, in other countries such as Russia, it is very common. Some of Wagner’s forces are currently working in Haiti, protecting its president from threats of assassination.

Despite Prigozhin’s call for an end to the uprising, this was clearly the most serious challenge to Putin’s iron grip on Russia. It certainly confirms that not all of Putin’s people are behind him, especially after his invasion of Ukraine which has cost many Russian lives as well as the lives of Ukrainians and others.

The Wagner leader’s statement went on to say he was halting the effort to avoid bloodshed and perhaps as a thinly veiled threat that he wasn’t completely finished yet, said that the Wagner forces had already proven their might, stating:

We did not have the goal of overthrowing the existing regime and legally elected power. We turned around so as not to spill the blood of Russian soldiers . . . . The demonstration of what we could do was sufficient. Our decision to return was driven by two factors. One, that we did not want Russian blood to flow. The second factor was that we went to demonstrate our protest, and not to overthrow the government of the country.

Honestly, many people around the world would love to see Putin ousted. But something about this whole situation and Wagner’s short-lived rebellion smells a bit fishy. This attempted coup – and now losing the assistance of Wagner in Ukraine – could prove to be the key for Putin to pull out of Ukraine. And in fact, as my dad ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow explained, despite many analysts saying this makes Putin look weak, the Russian leader may have been more directly involved in all of this than we currently realize:

They’re [Wagner] also a big military force and a sophisticated military force. The idea that this group got 120 miles basically from Moscow is breathtaking because the only reason that Russia is even able to fight in Ukraine right now is because of the Wagner troops.  And these mercenaries, like you said – this is not a good guy. The fact that he’s now in hiding or in exile in Belarus, let’s be clear, Belarus is a Russian satellite. So none of this is happening without Putin saying this is okay. So there’s something else in play. This may be, and there’s a couple points to look at here, this may be a geopolitical implication . . . and that is this may be a way out of the Ukraine situation, because if he doesn’t have the Wagner troops, Putin can’t compete. And he now has a domestic problem and he can use that as a reason to get out. So who knows how much of this was orchestrated? Who knows how much of this was influenced also by what’s going on in the Middle East right now?

So did Prigozhin see himself as a modern Boris Yeltzin seeking to end the tyranny in Moscow and bring radical change to Russia, or was he just another pawn in Putin’s chess game?

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast includes more analysis of this weekend’s chaotic events in Russia and what is likely to happen next. We’re also joined by ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy, and former U.S. Acting Director of National Intelligence, Ric Grenell.

Watch the full broadcast below: