Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin resurfaced for the first time since launching a brief rebellion against Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, posting an 11-minute voice recording to social media.
The march toward Moscow was intended to be a protest against the prosecution of the war in Ukraine and not aimed at regime change in Russia, Prigozhin said, according a Reuters translation.
“We started our march due to injustice. We showed no aggression, but we were hit by missiles and helicopters. This was the trigger,” the warlord said in the recording.
“We showed a master-class on how Feb. 24, 2022 had to look. We turned around to avoid spilling the blood of Russian soldiers. We regret that we had to hit Russian aviation,” he added.
Prigozhin shocked the world this weekend when he turned his private military group against Russian forces, taking control of Russian military bases and beginning the march. The warlord relented on Saturday after Belarus held negotiations between the two sides.
The Kremlin said it made a deal in which the mercenary chief will move to Belarus and he and his soldiers will receive an amnesty.
The mutiny was the biggest challenge to Putin in more than 20 years.
Prigozhin’s statement offered no clues as to his current whereabouts, and it is not clear whether he has traveled to Belarus.
Prior to the revolt, Prigozhin had been criticizing Russian military leaders including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov with expletive-ridden insults for months, slamming them for allegedly failing to provide his troops with enough ammunition during the battle for Bakhmut.
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