Moscow (EFE).- The head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgueni Prigozhin, announced that his private army crossed the Russian border and is entering the Rostov region, in the south of the country, after declaring in absentia against the Ministry of Defense From Russia.
“We have crossed the state line everywhere. The border guards would come out and hug our fighters. Now we are entering Rostov, ”he stated in an audio posted on his Telegram channel.
According to Wagner’s boss, “the units of the Ministry of Defense, or rather, the conscripts that launched to block our way, stood aside.”
“We don’t fight children, we don’t kill children. (Russian Defense Minister Sergei) Shoigu is the one who kills children, he throws unprepared soldiers, including recruits, into the war,” he said.
According to Wagner’s boss, the Defense Ministry sent “18-year-old boys, who could be our children or grandchildren” to stop their advance.
“That’s why these boys are going to live and return to their mothers,” he added.
“We only fight professionals, but if someone stops us on the way, we will annihilate them. We extend our hand to everyone, do not spit on our hand. We keep going, we keep going until the end, ”he sentenced.
Prigozhin responded to calls by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB, formerly KGB) to arrest him, saying he has “brotherhood, justice, honor, shame.”
“You do not have these feelings, and that is why you cannot understand more than betrayal,” he concluded.
The FSB today called on the mercenaries of the Wagner group “not to make an irreparable mistake” and not to carry out Prigozhin’s orders, as well as “to take measures for his arrest.”
According to the entity, “Prigozhin’s statements and actions are in fact a call for the start of an armed civil conflict on Russian territory.”
Wagner’s boss today accused the Defense Ministry of attacking his positions and promised to punish the culprits.
“We are 25,000 and we are going to find out why there is chaos in the country,” Prigozhin wrote while denying that it was a coup.
He assured that the desire to put an end to the reigning “chaos” “is not a coup d’état”, but a “march for justice” and that military operations would not be affected by Wagner’s actions.
According to Prigozhin, after “dealing with” those who “annihilate” Russian soldiers, Wagner’s fighters will “return to the front.”
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, indicated for his part that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been informed about the “situation around Prigozhin” and that the corresponding measures were being taken.
In this context, the Russian capital reinforced security measures and placed additional guards at the most important targets, reported the Russian Police, quoted by TASS.