
The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner vowed Saturday to take all necessary steps to topple the country’s military leadership in Moscow, saying his forces would “destroy everything” in their way.
“We are going onwards and we will go to the end,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a new audio message after vowing to sideline Russia’s military leadership.
He said his forces had entered the southern Russian region of Rostov but did not provide any proof and AFP could not independently verify his claims.
“We will destroy everything that stands in our way,” he added.
Prigozhin, who has been embroiled in a battle with the defense ministry for months, accused Moscow on Friday of targeting his men with lethal missile strikes and pledged retaliation.
In the most daring challenge to President Vladimir Putin since the offensive in Ukraine began last year, he asked Russians to join his forces and punish Moscow’s military leadership.