War has broken out between Russian forces and Wagner mercenaries according to some reports as it was claimed three military helicopters were shot down in the Voronezh region on Saturday morning (June 24). Eyewitness filmed members of the Wagner forces near an airfield in Buturlinovka, a small town to the south of the city of Voronezh, having been “worked on by army aviation”, according to local reports.
Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has denied allegations by President Vladimir Putin that he is betraying his country, and called his Wagner Group fighters “patriots”. After the Russian leader denounced Wagner forces entering the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, the group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said: “Regarding the betrayal of the motherland, the president was deeply mistaken. We are patriots of our homeland.”
Mr Prigozhin said his fighters would not turn themselves in at the request of Mr Putin, as “we do not want the country to live on in corruption, deceit and bureaucracy”. In an address to the nation on Saturday morning, Mr Putin vowed to defend Russia against the armed rebellion after Mr Prigozhin led his troops out of Ukraine and into the key city 600 miles south of Moscow.
