Former Russian commander Igor Girkin predicted on Saturday that Wagner Group's rebellion amid the ongoing war in Ukraine could lead to "death of the Fatherland."
"What is it about. A military rebellion during the struggle against an external enemy is a sure road to the death of the Fatherland. Not to mention that - Who raised this rebellion," Girkin wrote on his Telegram account.
His remarks come after Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin rebelled against the Russian defense ministry and accused the Russian military of attacking his group's positions in Ukraine on Friday.
Prigozhin announced that his mercenary group is currently in control of the military sites in the city of Rostov-on-Don. The British Ministry of Defense said on Saturday in its assessment that the Wagner Group controls important security sites, including the headquarters that runs Russia's military operations in Ukraine. The group has been participating in military operations along with the Russian military since last February when the Russia-Ukraine war began.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday called Wagner Group's rebellion a "stab in the back" and vowed to take "decisive action."
"Those who have organized an armed rebellion will be held accountable," Putin said in a televised address without referring to Wagner or Prigozhin. "Those who have been drawn into this I call on you to stop your criminal actions."
The Russian leader said that the troops "who went on the path of treason will be punished and will be held accountable," and added that "the armed forces have been given the necessary orders."
"Personal interests have led to the betrayal of our country and the cause that our armed forces are fighting," Putin said, who went on to comment on the rebellion by referring to the Russian Revolution of 1917 when the country replaced its monarchy with a socialist government during World War I.
"It was such a blow that [was] dealt to Russia in 1917 when the country was waging World War I," he said in his address.
He said that then, there was the "tragedy of the civil war" after the revolution in which "Russians killed Russians" and "political opportunists and foreign forces...divided the country."
After his address, Wagner Group's Telegram account wrote that "Putin made the wrong choice. All the worse for him. Soon we will have a new president."
Prigozhin has been outspoken against the Russian defense ministry over the past few months and often criticized Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. On Friday, he doubted Putin's decision to invade the war-torn country and claimed in an interview that he posted to Telegram that Russia's defense ministry has been "deceiving" Putin and Russian citizens.
Newsweek reached out by email to the Russian defense ministry for comment.
