The outspoken head of a group of vicious Russian mercenaries says Moscow's "evil" leadership must be stopped, following an attack on his troops which left several dead.
Earlier tonight Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the notorious private military contractors the Wagner Group, dismissed claims Ukraine was readying an attack on Russian-held areas ahead of Putin’s invasion in February 2022.
He also said the brutal war, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Russians, could have been avoided altogether had Putin met with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, before fighting broke out.
In the wake of his retort his men were hit by a Russian rocket, leading to Prigozhin promising revenge on Russia's leadership.
He said in a social media rant: "PMC Wagner Commanders’ Council made a decision, the evil brought by the military leadership of the country must be stopped.
“They neglect the lives of soldiers. They forgot the word “justice”, and we will bring it back. “Those, who destroyed today our guys, who destroyed tens, tens of thousands of lives of Russian soldiers will be punished.
“I’m asking: no one resist. Everyone who will try to resist, we will consider them a danger and destroy them immediately, including any checkpoints on our way.
“And any aviation that we see above our heads. I’m asking everyone to remain calm, do not succumb to provocations, and remain in their houses.
“Ideally, those along our way, do not go outside. After we finished what we started, we will return to the frontline to protect our motherland.
“Presidential authority, Government, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Rosgvardia, and other departments will continue operating as before.
“We will deal with those who destroy Russian soldiers. And we will return to the frontline. Justice in the Army will be restored.
“After this, justice for the whole of Russia."
Russian state media reports that the FSB, Russia's security services, have opened a criminal case against Prigozhin, accusing him of "calling for an armed rebellion".
Wagner has lost many thousands of troops in bitter fighting and has complained regularly about the lack of support from Moscow.
The group is also suspected of having committed war crimes since the invasion on February 24 last year - and elsewhere in Africa.
Russia’s defence ministry later issued a statement dismissing the claims they were responsible for the attack.
It read: “All the messages and video footage distributed on social networks on behalf of E Prigozhin about the alleged ‘strike by the RF Ministry of Defense on the rear camps of PMC Wagner’ do not correspond to reality and are an informational provocation.”
Earlier this year it was reported Putin may "swiftly dispose" of Prigozhin after he suggested he will pull out of Ukraine.
The Wagner leader confirmed the plan in a social media post that showed a video of him walking among the bodies of his dead fighters.
The move seems designed to put maximum pressure on the Russian Ministry of Defence as Ukraine prepares to carry out a counteroffensive to drive Putin's boys from the territories they occupy.
The guns-for-hire firm has been dubbed “Putin’s private army” but has infuriated the Kremlin in recent months after Prigozhin criticised Moscow’s military commanders.
About 80% of its troops in Ukraine were drawn from prisons, according to the US National Security Council.
