The founder of the Wagner Group has claimed his rebellion was a “masterclass” in how to launch an invasion.

Yevgeny Prigozhin said if a military unit like Wagner had carried out Russia’s attack on 24 February 2022, “maybe the war would have lasted 24 hours.”

In an 11-minute audio recording posted on Telegram, Prigozhin said the “march” of his troops showed serious security issues in the country.

He said it “shed light on so many things we’ve talked about before: grave security breached across the country: We blocked all military units and airfields that were on our way.”

The aim of the mutiny was to avoid the destruction of the Wagner group of mercenaries, which Prigozhin said was going to be terminated on July 1.

The aim of the action was not to overthrow the country’s leadership.

The recording is the first time Prigozhin had been heard from since he announced that his troops were to turn back and the coup was called off on Saturday evening.

Read your updates here: www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/06/26/russia-ukraine-war-latest-coup-prigozhin-wagner-putin/

#wagner #russia #putin

Subscribe to The Telegraph with our special offer: just £1 for 3 months.

Start your free trial now:
www.telegraph.co.uk/customer/subscribe/digitalsub/3for1/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_pvid_conversion-subscription_editorial-iniative_03-22_EGW-13_organic_youtube

Get the latest headlines: www.telegraph.co.uk/

Telegraph.co.uk and YouTube.com/TelegraphTV are websites of The Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.