Head of Wagner paramilitary group rejects ‘treason’ accusation

On Saturday, the leader of the Wagner paramilitary organisation disputed Vladimir Putin’s charge of “treason.”

Wagner rejects treason accusation: “The president (Putin) was gravely incorrect in his assessment of the motherland’s betrayal. We love our country with all our hearts. No one would give themselves in at the request of the president, the FSB, or anybody else, Yevgeny Prigozhin declared in an audio message sent to Telegram. We fought and are still fighting, all the PMC Wagner fighters.

They will not come forward, according to Prigozhin, because they do not want the nation to “live on in corruption, deceit, and bureaucracy.”

“We were taught that we needed Africa when we fought in Africa… We went and engaged in combat after learning that we were at war with Ukraine. “He claimed that officials stole the ammo, guns, and all the money placed on them, and they kept them for themselves, anticipating that someone might raise the issue today and travel to Moscow.”

Later, he said that the Russian military had been deliberately targeting civilian populations because “they can’t hit (the target) and they hit anywhere.”

“Therefore, we are patriots, and those who oppose us today are those who have gathered around the scum,” he continued.

In a speech to the country on Saturday, Putin accused Prigozhin of treason after paramilitary forces from the group entered Rostov-on-Don from areas of Ukraine under Russian control.

However, In recent months, Prigozhin has repeatedly charged Russia with failing to provide enough weapons to the paramilitary force that has been fighting alongside the Russian army in Ukraine.