The owner of the Wagner private military contractor who called for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister has confirmed in a video that he and his troops have reached Rostov-on-Don
FILE - The top Russian military commander in Ukraine, Gen. Sergei Surovikin, left, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, center, attend the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to the joint staff of troops involved in Russia's military operation in Ukraine, at an unknown location, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022. While denouncing most senior military leaders, Prigozhin, the maverick millionaire head of the private military contractor Wagner, spoke approvingly about Gen. Sergei Surovikin, who led Russian forces in Ukraine for several months in the fall before Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed the chief of the military's General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, to oversee the operations. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
The Associated Press
The owner of the Wagner private military contractor who called for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia's defense minister confirmed in a video that he and his troops have reached Rostov-on-Don.
The city is home to the Russian military headquarters that oversees the fighting in Ukraine.
Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed early Saturday that his forces had crossed into Russia from Ukraine, where they have played a crucial role in the war. The video posted on social media was the first confirmation that he was in Rostov.
He has long feuded with the Defense Ministry and late Friday claimed that the defense minister had ordered an attack on his field camps in Ukraine.
