(PatrioticPost.com)- On Tuesday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group mercenaries, accused Russia’s defense minister and its most senior officer of treason, the New York Times reported.
Prigozhin, who has spent the past week attacking Russia’s military leaders in audio messages on Telegram, accused the Russian Army’s Chief of the General Staff and the defense minister of withholding supplies and ammunition from the Wagner Group as a way to destroy the mercenary group, which he claimed, “equated to treason.”
In one profanity-laced message, Prigozhin accused military officials of putting Russian troops ahead of his mercenaries, claiming that the military has “decided that these people will die” at a time of their convenience and when they “feel like it.”
In a statement Tuesday night, the Defense Ministry denied Prigozhin’s claim that it was withholding supplies and accused him of undermining the war effort in Ukraine.
In its statement, the Defense Ministry provided a list of the ammunition and support provided to the Wagner Group in recent days. It said Prigozhin was attempting to “sow rifts” among the Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, saying his comments are “counterproductive” and only aid “the enemy.”
Military analyst Dmitri Kuznets from the independent Russian news outlet Meduza told the New York Times that Prigozhin is trying to position himself as the “de facto leader” of the faction opposed to the Russian military establishment.
After Russian forces suffered a series of setbacks in Ukraine, Prigozhin proposed sending mercenaries from the Wagner Group to fight.
Largely made up of recruited convicts, the Wagner Group has been leading the assault on Bakhmut, which has become a central battle in the war. In recent weeks, the mercenaries have made significant gains by launching frontal assaults on surrounding villages.
However, Prigozhin’s attacks on the Russian military establishment as well as his penchant for self-promotion have become a cause for concern within Moscow with many Kremlin insiders believing he is motivated by political aspirations, the Times reported.
