The feud between Russia’s government and Yevgeny Prigozhin, the outspoken mercenary tycoon, escalated sharply on Friday, as Prigozhin accused the military of attacking his forces, vowed to retaliate and declared on social media that Russia’s “evil” military leadership “must be stopped.” Russian law enforcement immediately accused him of “organizing an armed rebellion.”
There was no immediate sign the conflict between the mercenary leader and military leaders would lead to armed clashes on the ground in Russia, but the fast-moving developments late Friday evening represented the most dramatic internal conflict inside the country to spill into the open since President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began 16 months ago.
“The evil carried by the country’s military leadership must be stopped,” Prigozhin said in one of a series of voice recordings posted to the Telegram social network after 9 p.m. Moscow time.
