Russia mercenary corps 'Wagner Group' blames steep losses on Kremlin
Fox News correspondent Gillian Turner reports on leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's pledge to pull troops out of Ukraine if aid stalls on 'Special Report.'
Russian military officials have denied attacking the mercenary Wagner Group, as the force’s founder and leader promises revenge and threatens to "resolve" the conflict.
In a series of audio clips on Russian social media site VKontakte (VK), Wagner’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin first accused Russia’s defense ministry of authorizing an attack against his forces and made several promises of retaliation.
Prigozhin claimed his camp came under fire from a "massive" missile attack, Kyiv Post reported. He also posted a video that he claimed showed the aftermath of the attack, which he said killed a "huge amount" of his troops at multiple camps.
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He promised that he would punish "everyone" involved in the alleged strikes against his forces.
Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin. (Press service of "Concord"/Handout via Reuters)
The Defense Ministry responded to the claims in a Telegram post, saying, "All the messages and video footage distributed on social networks on behalf of E. Prigozhin about the alleged ‘strike by the RF Ministry of Defense on the rear camps of PMC Wagner’ are untrue and are an informational provocation."
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The ministry added that its forces "continue to carry out combat missions on the line of contact with the armed forces of Ukraine" in the zone of the special operation.
Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reportedly said Russian President Vladimir Putin was aware of the ongoing situation involving Wagner Group and "necessary measures are being taken."
Rebekah Koffler, a Russian-born former DIA intelligence officer told Fox News Digital that, "It appears that Prigozhin has crossed the line in his fight with the Russian security bureaucracy. The FSB, Russian domestic security service has opened a criminal investigation into Prigozhin, following his calling for a military rebellion, according to the National Counter-terrorism committee."
"This has to be a major headache for Putin now," Koffler concluded.
Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin attends the funeral of Dmitry Menshikov, a fighter of the Wagner group who died during a special operation in Ukraine, at the Beloostrovskoye cemetery outside St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo)
Russia's Tass news agency reported that the FSB public relations office called on Wagner troops to disregard Prigozhin's orders and to detain him.
Prigozhin, seen as a top Putin ally, this week took issue with the Kremlin chief’s comments about progress in Ukraine and said he and the Ministry of Defense "are misleading the Russian people."
"Huge chunks [of land] have been handed over to the enemy," he added in an audio message posted to his Telegram according to a translation by the Moscow Times.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Wagner Mercenary Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a split screen image. (Getty.)
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Prigozhin did not go into detail as to where his troops had given up territory to Ukrainian forces, though Ukraine earlier this week said it had made progress in the vital Zaporizhzhia region – a claim that was substantiated by a Russian official in the area.
Fox News Digital's Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.