The first deputy head of military intelligence of the Russian Federation Alekseev called Prigozhin’s actions an attempt at a coup d’état

The first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation (military intelligence agency), Lieutenant General of the Army Vladimir Alekseev, called the statement of the founder of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin a stab in the back of the president and an attempted coup. He urged the soldiers to change their minds.

The video message was distributed by Russian military correspondents in their Telegram channels and the state agency RIA Novosti. Shortly before this, an appeal was also published by General of the Army Sergei Surovikin with a call to “stop the columns” and “return them to their permanent deployment points.”

Mr. Alekseev drew attention to the fact that from the first day of the existence of PMC “Wagner” carried out combat missions together with the company – in 2014-2016. He noted that he is interacting with PMCs now. “I have great respect for many fighters and commanders of this private military company who perform serious tasks in the interests of our state. But what is happening now is a glaring fact, which, apart from insanity, I cannot explain in other words. <...> Whatever your intentions – noble, maybe, as you were explained – this is a stab in the back of the country and the president. Only the president has the right to appoint the highest commanding staff of the armed forces, and you are trying to encroach on his power. This is a coup d’état. I’m asking you to reconsider. There is no need to do this now,” the lieutenant general said in a video message.

Mr. Alekseev believes that Russia is “in a most difficult situation, when the entire Western world has taken up arms against us.” In his opinion, against this background, the actions of PMCs can lead to “huge losses, primarily political ones.” The lieutenant general believes that “such a provocation could only be done by the enemies of the Russian Federation.” “I ask you to stop now, there has not been and will not be any use of weapons by the armed forces against your units. We still lacked to unleash a civil war inside the country at the present time, ”he added.

Yevgeny Prigozhin began to distribute messages with accusations against the Ministry of Defense late on the evening of June 23. Ministry of Defense called this is an “information provocation”. A little more than an hour later, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee reported that the FSB excited against the founder of PMC “Wagner” a criminal case on incitement to armed rebellion. special service urged fighters of the company to detain Mr. Prigozhin. Prosecutor General’s Office statedthat the entrepreneur faces 12 to 20 years in prison. President Vladimir Putin informed about the situation, his press secretary Dmitry Peskov reported.