Wagner chief says his fighters crossed into Russia as Moscow calls for surrender

The chief of the private contractor Wagner Group said his fighters crossed into Russia’s territory as Moscow calls for the surrender of his forces and ultimately his arrest. 

Yevgeny Prigozhin called for an armed rebellion Friday to remove Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu from power. The push follows the Wagner chief’s accusations that the Russian military attacked his group’s campsite and killed many of his fighters. 

Prigozhin claimed Saturday local time that Wagner forces left Ukraine where they had been fighting and went into Russian territory, reaching the town of Rostov-on-Don. He vowed in a series of social media posts Friday that his soldiers would “destroy anyone who stands in our way.” 

“We are moving forward and will go until the end,” he said. 

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Wagner has been assisting the Russian military in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and was key to Russia capturing the city of Bakhmut last month, but tensions have been rising between the groups as Russia has struggled to make gains for months and is trying to fight off a Ukrainian counteroffensive. 

Prigozhin denounced Russian justifications for the war as false, denying Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims that Ukraine was persecuting or threatening ethnic Russians in its territory. He also accused Russian oligarchs of being responsible for the war starting and said they were using the war to try to take resources from Ukraine. 

He said they were “practically ruling” Russia now. 

The Russian Defense Ministry denied Prigozhin’s claims, and Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee opened a criminal case against him on allegations that he was inciting an armed rebellion. 

The Federal Security Services, the successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, charged him with armed rebellion and called for his arrest as Wagner forces moved forward. 

Security was heightened in Moscow and Rostov-on-Don, where the Russian military headquarters for the southern region is located. The headquarters also oversees the war in Ukraine. 

Prigozhin said Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff, sent warplanes to strike the Wagner Group’s convoys, but his forces took down a military helicopter that had fired at a civilian convoy. 

Russian social networks have not yet confirmed Prigozhin’s claims that his forces entered Rostov-on-Don. 

The Wagner chief said Gerasimov met with Shoigu and decided to destroy Wagner. He has said he has 25,000 soldiers under his command and called on the Russian army to not resist. 

“This is not a military coup, but a march of justice,” he said. 

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin has been informed of the developments and “all necessary measures” are being taken.

The Associated Press contributed.