Ukraine War: How Wagner mercenary group backfired against Russia

• Anti-Putin forces launch armed campaign against Kremlin

Sopuruchi Onwuka, with agency reports

A coalition of aggrieved Russian militias are forging common front with the discredited Putin backed Wagner mercenary group to topple the government.

Several reports surveyed by The Oracle Today showed that Russian is now contending with the Wagner group which it hired to assist its military forces in a the ongoing war to overrun Ukraine, a neighboring country seeking western economic and military alliance.

Putin Admits He’s Facing ‘Armed Mutiny’ as mutineers advance on Moscow

For years, Yevgeny Prigozhin had been one of Putin’s closest allies, operating the notorious Wagner mercenary group, which carried it out the president’s darkest missions. On Saturday, Putin announced to the world that Prigozhin—and 25,000 of his battle-hardened men—had decisively turned on their master.

After several clashes with Russian forces in their parallel military campaigns against Ukraine, the Wagner group alleges that its men are systematically being killed by rival Russian armed forces, leading to massive losses at the battle front.

In the latest accusation, the Wagner group alleged a rear assault on its men in the ongoing counteroffensive in which Ukraine seeks to recover lost grounds in the recent brutal assaults from combined Russian forces and the Wagner mercenaries.

The leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has said that the Russian regular army had launched a missile strike on the Wagnerites’ rear camps. Prigozhin has added that Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu “has now cowardly fled Rostov.”

Prigozhin claimed that Shoigu had personally arrived in Rostov to carry out an operation to wipe out the Wagnerites: “He used artillery and helicopters after dark to take us out.”

Feeling betrayed by Russia, the Wagner group weekend launched attacks from multiple fronts seeking to overthrow the government of Vladimir Putin whose popularity is fast sinking locally and in the international diplomatic circles. The mercenary group also called on all aggrieved militias in the country to take up arms against the government.

According to Yevgeny Prigozhin, “the information from the field suggests that the attack (on Wagner mercenaries) was carried out from the rear, i.e., by the [forces of the] Russian Defence Ministry. These scums carried out missile attacks on our rear camps. A large number of our fighters were killed. We will decide how to respond to this atrocity. The next step is up to us.”

According to the leader of the Wagnerites, “Those who struck the rear camps of the private military company will be punished”.

In declaring war against Putin’s regime, Prigozhin said: “I ask everyone not to resist. Anyone who tries to resist will be destroyed, including any checkpoints on our way. I ask everyone to stay calm, not to succumb to provocations, and to stay in their homes. Preferably, do not go outside along our route. Justice in the army will be restored, and then justice in the whole of Russia.

“Shoigu has just cowardly fled Rostov. At 21:00, as cowardly as a woman. This creature will be stopped.

“There are 25,000 of us, and we are going to sort this out, why there is lawlessness in the country. 25,000 are expected as a tactical reserve, and the strategic reserve is the entire army and the entire country. Anyone who wants to join, do so. We need to put an end to this outrage.

This is not a military uprising, this is a justice march. Our actions don’t interfere with the troops at all.”

Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defence or MoD claims that all the messages and videos spread on social media on behalf of Prigozhin about “the Russian MoD striking the ‘rear camps’ of the Wagner Group” are untrue and are an information provocation.

The MoD states that the Russian Armed Forces “continue to perform combat missions on the contact line against the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the special military operation.

In response to the call for revolt, the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) and Freedom of Russia Legion have risen to action against the Russian authorities and called on their supporters to also take active action.

The RVC is a far-right Russian paramilitary group based in Ukraine, and the Freedom of Russia Legion is a Ukraine-based paramilitary group made up of defectors from the Russian Armed Forces and other Russian volunteers. Both claim to oppose Putin’s regime.

Freedom of Russia Legion declared: “On the battlefield we are enemies with Prigozhin, but now he is telling the truth: about how cowardly generals send hundreds of thousands of Russians to their deaths as cannon fodder. His words show that no one can put up with corruption, dictatorship, and hypocrisy.

“We hope that the war of evil against evil will weaken the repressive machine and we will liberate Russia with our sworn brothers. Soldiers, officers, your time has come. Turn your weapons on the Kremlin towers; do not let the conflict drown Russia in blood. It’s time to stop the senseless and cruel killing of Ukrainians, the death of thousands of Russians at the front line and return home: to the place where you are needed now.”

Meanwhile, the Commander of Russian Volunteer Corps, Denis Nikitin, described the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, as a dictator who has already been evacuated to Russian Valdai. He added that representatives of the Russian elite are leaving Moscow in their business jets.

The uprising in Russia, according to reports, has already delivered debilitating impact on the morale of soldiers in the frontline at Ukraine, forcing demoralized battle men to leave their positions.

“I am sincerely cheering for the success of Prigozhin’s mission, because the bloody Kremlin regime can be overthrown in only one way – an armed rebellion. And Prigozhin has raised this rebellion,” Nikitin declared.

He noted that “the Russian Volunteer Corps fighters, who are in Russia, have been mobilised. They are ready to help liberate Russia from a bloody tyrant. I think that the Russian Volunteer Corps troops are bringing our joint victory closer on both sides of the border.”

In response to the rebellion, President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation and described his estranged friend, Yevgeny Prigozhin who leads the Wagner group as a saboteur who has stabbed the country in the back.

The rebellion has dealt further blow to Putin’s falling relevance and popularity in the global scene where he has alienated himself from much of the world following his invasion of Ukraine. Analysts contend that Putin’s diplomatic isolation could leave him vulnerable as the internal chaos continues.

There was initial silence from Beijing, despite the recent growing closeness of China and Russia. And in public statements, other capitals friendly to Moscow maintained the crisis was an “internal” problem for Russia, rather than issuing pledges of support for Putin.

According to Kazakhstan’s Presidential Administration, Kazakh leader Kassym Jomart Tokayev told Putin politely on the phone that the coup was an entirely internal Russian problem.

Putin also talked to the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is reported to have given “full support for the steps taken by the Russian leadership.”

But Ankara said Mr Erdogan had urged Putin to act with “common sense,” telling him Turkey was ready to help seek a “peaceful resolution of events in Russia as soon as possible.”

Iran’s foreign minister Nasser Kanaani issued a statement saying it supported the rule of law in Russia, and also considered the armed rebellion an “internal Russian matter.”

Kassym Jomart Tokayev also told Putin that the coup was an entirely internal Russian problem, according to reports surveyed by our newsroom.

However, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus pledged support to his ally, Putin; saying that Minsk remained an ally of Russia, and that internal disputes were “a gift to the collective West.”

The Kremlin said Putin also sought support from  the president of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Western leaders remained wary of commenting, eager not to give Putin any excuse to claim that they were backing the rebellion.

The US and European officials were concerned that the rebellion could lead to a reaction by Putin against NATO. And NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said the alliance was “monitoring the situation.” The European Union also said it was “closely monitoring the situation in Russia as it unfolds.”

Berlin said it was “closely following the events in Russia,” and Paris said: “We remain focused on supporting Ukraine.”

Inside Russia, millions of the citizens are looking beyond the war in Ukraine to full scale civil war, stocking food and renovating rural hideouts in case cities fall.

Tania Krasnova, a single mother of two in Nizhny Novgorod, put her cup of coffee on the table in consternation. Telegram was full of videos of tanks in Moscow, headlines were saying “Wagner Soldiers Have Captured Voronezh” just 300 miles from the capital. “I thought: that was quick, they were in Rostov just a few hours ago.”

It was when she saw Putin’s furious face on the television talking about a “betrayal” and an “armed rebellion” that she realized this was serious. Oh, this is not just some joke, she thought.

One woman in Moscow added seriously: “But I think it is time to fly to Turkey while the airports are still working.”

People in the southern district of Russia, where Wagner has apparently seized control of Russia’s military HQ, were confused and concerned.