Yevgeny Prigozhin releases new audio message

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, has released a new audio message more than a week after his mercenary group’s fallout with the Russian government. 

In a Telegram post Monday, Prigozhin expressed gratitude to those who supported him and his group in the attempted rebellion against the Kremlin. 

“I want you to understand that our ‘March of Justice’ was aimed at fighting traitors and mobilizing our society,” Prigozhin said in his audio message. “In the near future, I am sure that you will see our next victories at the front. Thanks guys!”

Prigozhin urged an armed rebellion late last month to oust Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and also challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin’s justification for the country’s ongoing war with neighboring Ukraine.

Prigozhin eventually ordered his private army to stop its advance after reaching an agreement in which Russia would drop its charges against him for leading an armed rebellion and he would relocate to Belarus.

In a Telegram post last week, Prigozhin said that he ordered his group to stop its advance in order to prevent a civil war happening on Russian soil and denied suggestions that he was trying to conduct a coup.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who brokered the deal between the two sides, said he convinced Putin not to “eliminate” the Wagner Group. 

“The most dangerous thing, as I saw it, was not the situation itself, but its possible ramifications. That was the most dangerous part of it,” Lukashenko said in a statement Tuesday. “I also realized that a tough decision was taken … to eliminate those involved.”

“I suggested that Putin should not rush to do it. I suggested that I talk to Prigozhin, his commanders,” he added.