In a brief video shared by Russian social media channels, a person who appears to be the exiled mercenary chief says he is recruiting “real strong men.”
In a brief video shared by Russian social media channels, a person who appears to be the exiled mercenary chief says he is recruiting “real strong men.”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Vowing to make Africa “more free” and “Russia even greater on every continent,” a person who appears to be Prigozhin hints at his location in the 41-second clip, which was published by several Telegram channels affiliated with Wagner on Monday.
The U.S. government and human rights groups have accused Prigozhin’s mercenary force of committing atrocities on the continent and of exploiting countries’ gold and diamond mines in return for military support.
On June 23, Prigozhin led his Wagner fighters to capture the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and threatened to march on Moscow before standing down after an alleged deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Although Vladimir Putin called Wagner’s rebellion treason and a criminal investigation was initially launched, it does not appear that Prigozhin is facing charges or any real punishment for his stunning challenge to the Russian president’s authority.
Putin praised the Russian military for stopping Prigozhin’s forces and averting a “civil war,” while the mercenary chief has been battered by the Kremlin’s propaganda as a self-centered traitor, exposing his lavish style.
In them, he claimed that he never meant to topple the Putin regime, but that he was motivated by the desire to preserve his mercenary force — a marked departure for a man who used to dominate Russian social media space with almost daily video and audio messages from the front lines in Ukraine often laced with profanities.
The original article contains 800 words, the summary contains 233 words. Saved 71%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!