Moscow says Ukrainian troops were taking advantage of infighting between Wagner mercenary group and Russian military to ready an assault near east Ukraine hotspot of Bakhmut as fighting enters its 486th day Follow our live coverage👇
Moscow accuses mercenary group's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin of instigating "civil conflict" and orders Wagner fighters to "detain" their leader. / Photo: APThe founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary force, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has said that his men had crossed border from Ukraine into Russia and were ready to go"all the way" against the Russian military.
Wagner fighters had entered the southern Russian city ofRostov, Prigozhin said in an audio recording posted on Telegram.Russia has accused Prigozhin of calling for an armed mutiny after he alleged, without providing evidence, that the military leadership had killed a huge number of his fighters in an air strike and vowed to punish them.
"Taking advantage of [Yevgeny] Prigozhin's provocation to disorganise the situation, the Kiev regime near the Bakhmut front is concentrating units... for offensive actions," the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement carried by news agencies.
"[Yevgeny] Prigozhin's statements and actions are in fact a call to start an armed civil conflict on the territory of the Russian Federation and a stab in the back to Russian servicemen fighting pro-fascist Ukrainian forces," the statement said, urging Wagner fighters to"take measures to detain him".
"We are watching," the Ukrainian Defence Ministry tweeted, while Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said rival Russian factions had begun to"eat each other over power and money."
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