Leader of Wagner PMC asserts his units have army helicopter shot down
Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner Private Military Group (PMC), said that his mercenaries allegedly shot down a helicopter of the Russian army.
Source: audio recording published by Prigozhin's press service on Telegram
Details: On the record, Prigozhin claims that Wagner militants shot down a helicopter that opened fire on a civilian convoy.
At the same time, the leader of the PMC did not specify exactly where it happened.
Earlier, Prigozhin said that his "army" crossed the state border of the Russian Federation "everywhere" and entered the city of Rostov-on-Don, and the General Staff of the Russian Federation ordered army units to "open fire."
Background:
- Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that the regular Russian army had launched a missile strike on the Wagnerites’ rear camps. Prigozhin added that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had fled Rostov like a coward and "that creature will be stopped". Russia’s Ministry of Defence called this statement a provocation.
- Prigozhin has criticised Shoigu and the General Staff for the failure of the hostilities, stating that Ukraine had not planned to attack Donbas in 2022. He said that Russian officials wanted tgw war, and the oligarchs wanted to make money.
- Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has been informed of the conflict between Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, and Sergei Shoigu, the Russian Defence Minister. A criminal case is being initiated against Prigozhin for incitement to armed rebellion.
- Photos of armoured vehicles on the streets of the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don are being posted on Russian social media following Prigozhin’s statement about a de facto declaration of war against the Russian army. Checkpoints are being set up at entrances to Moscow.
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