Russian Military Accused Of Lying To Putin By Wagner Boss, Kremlin Calls It Attempted ‘Coup’

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner private militia, accused Russian officials and ministers of lying to President Vladimir Putin and the Russian people about the number and severity of problems in Ukraine.

Prigozhin has flaunted his ability to openly criticize Russia, which relies on his support in the invasion effort. He specifically called out Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff, for hiding the nation’s “very serious losses on the front” from Putin. Prigozhin labeled their briefings as “total trash” and “monstrous” lies.

Many observers believe that the Kremlin has allowed Prigozhin to lambast the war effort in order to shift blame away from Putin onto others like Shoigu and Gerasimov.

In one of his almost daily Telegram updates, Prigozhin publicly refuted Russia’s claims that the 2022 invasion was necessary to protect itself from a Ukrainian attack, saying Shoigu, the defense ministry and other oligarchs started the war to achieve glory and “rob” Ukraine of its assets.

The Defense Ministry has largely ignored Prigozhin’s statements, reporting that Russian troops had successfully stopped all Ukrainian attacks in the past two weeks while suffering minimal losses.

Putin has recently ordered mercenary groups like Wagner to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry by July 1. This may hint that Prigozhin’s provocations are no longer useful to the president, whose military has failed to win the war as quickly as he had wished.

Late on Friday night, Prigozhin said his troops would march on the Defense Ministry in Moscow. Russian state TV said a warrant had been issued for Prigozhin’s arrested and said his actions amounted to an attempted “coup.”