The owner of the Wagner private military contractor made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet on Friday, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia's defense minister. In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin was taking the threat, security was heightened in Moscow and in Rostov-on-Don, which is home to the Russian military headquarters for the southern region and oversees the fighting in Ukraine. Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed early Saturday that his forces had reached Rostov, saying they faced no resistance from young conscripts at checkpoints and his forces "aren't fighting against children," the AP reports. "But we will destroy anyone who stands in our way," he said. "We are moving forward and will go until the end." He said he had 25,000 fighters ready to "end this mess," reports the Telegraph.
He claimed that the chief of the General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, scrambled warplanes to strike Wagner's convoys, which were driving alongside ordinary vehicles. Prigozhin said Wagner field camps in Ukraine were struck by rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery fire on orders from Gerasimov following a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, at which they decided to destroy Wagner. Prigozhin said his troops would punish Shoigu in an armed rebellion and urged the army not to offer resistance. "This is not a military coup, but a march of justice," Prigozhin declared. The governor of Rostov region has urged citizens to remain indoors, saying the "current situation requires the maximum concentration of all forces to maintain order," the BBC reports.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which is part of the Federal Security Services, or FSB, said he would be investigated on charges of calling for an armed rebellion. The FSB urged Wagner's contract soldiers to arrest Prigozhin and refuse to follow his "criminal and treacherous orders." It called his statements a "stab in the back to Russian troops" and said they amounted to fomenting an armed conflict in Russia. Russia's chief prosecutor said the criminal investigation was justified and an armed rebellion charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years imprisonment. President Vladimir Putin has been informed about the situation and "all the necessary measures were being taken," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said
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