Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) reportedly based the case on Prigozhin’s recent comments about the war in Ukraine that went viral.
In a video released on Telegram, Prigozhin directly countered Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s narrative that the “special military operation” in Ukraine is intended to denazify and demilitarize Kyiv while protecting ethnic Russians.
“The war was not needed to return our Russian citizens and not to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine,” Prigozhin said. “The war was needed by oligarchs.”
He also said Moscow was covering up the number of casualties in Ukraine and that soldiers were fleeing amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the southeastern regions.
Prigozhin is known to distort facts, and it’s unclear how honest he has been.
Just hours after the video was published, Prigozhin claimed that Russia’s Defense Ministry launched a rocket strike on a Wagner camp and killed scores of his men.
Russia’s Defense Ministry denied those claims, responding that the allegations “do not correspond to reality and are an informational provocation.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin is aware of the situation with Prigozhin and that Russia is taking all necessary measures to respond.
Prigozhin has maintained a long-running feud with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the commander overseeing Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
While his fighters have played a critical role in the war in Ukraine since the spring of 2022 and helped take the city of Bakhmut last month, Prigozhin repeatedly called Shoigu and Gerasimov cowards and said they failed to supply enough ammunition.
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
