The paramilitary leader who marched toward Moscow against Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday says the show of force was meant to be a protest, not an insurrection.
Yevgeny Prigozhin resurfaced for the first time since he agreed to stand down and take his forces to Belarus. He posted an 11-minute voice recording on social media, saying his Wagner Group private military forces did not want to be absorbed into the Russian military.
Though brief, the mutiny was the biggest challenge Putin has faced in his 20 years of rule.
“We started our march due to injustice. We showed no aggression, but we were hit by missiles and helicopters. This was the trigger,” Prigozhin said in the recording.
“We showed a master-class on how Feb. 24, 2022 had to look. We turned around to avoid spilling the blood of Russian soldiers. We regret that we had to hit Russian aviation,” he added.
The Kremlin said it made an amnesty deal with the mercenaries. Putin originally called the march “treason.”
The Russian Defense Ministry wanted Wagner to “cease to exist” starting on July 1, Prigozhin said.
“No one agreed to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry, since everyone knows very well from the current situation and their experience during the special military operation that this will lead to a complete loss of combat capability,” Prigozhin said in the audio message.
Only a few fighters agreed to sign with the Ministry of Defense, he said.
“Those fighters who decided that they were ready to move to the Ministry of Defense did so. But this is the minimum number, estimated at 1-2%. All the arguments to keep PMC Wagner were presented, but none were implemented,” he said.
Wagner fighters came within 125 miles of Moscow, he said.
“Not a single soldier on the ground was killed,” Prigozhin said, adding that Russia had killed 30 members of his group in an attack Friday.
