Prigozhin Allies Urge Wagner Fighters to Disobey Orders for 'War' on Russia

Former allies of Russian paramilitary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin are urging Wagner Group fighters to disregard his call for "war" against the Russian military.

Prigozhin announced on Friday that he was "declaring war on the Russian Ministry of Defense" following alleged attacks on his Wagner Group's positions in Ukraine. Russia denied responsibly for the purported attacks, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been briefed on the matter and was taking "the necessary measures" in response.

The Wagner Group leader, who has previously been highly critical of Moscow's military, vowed to destroy "the evil brought by the military leadership" of Russia. He warned that any Russians who "try to resist" an impending attack would be considered "a danger" and be destroyed themselves.

A Wagner-associated Telegram channel announced "we're starting" a short time later, asserting that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu would "not get away with" merely resigning his position. Around the same time, Russian military leaders who had previously expressed support for Prigozhin issued urgent pleas for Wagner mercenaries to ignore the call for war and pledge their allegiance to Putin instead.

Russian General Sergei Surovikin, a former Prigozhin ally who was the commander of all Russian forces invading Ukraine until January, appeared in a video urging the paramilitary forces to disobey their leader "before it's too late."

"I appeal to the leadership, commanders and fighters of PMC Wagner: Together with you, we walked a difficult path," Surovikin said, according to WarTranslated. "Together with you, we fought, we took risks, we took losses, but overcome together. We are of the same blood. We are warriors."

"I call on you to stop," he continued. "The enemy is waiting for our internal political situation to aggravate. We shouldn't play into the enemy's hand in this difficult time for the country. It needs to be done before it's too late: to obey the will and order of the people-elected president of the Russian Federation."

Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev, once reportedly "friendly" to Prigozhin, also appeared on video urging Wagner mercenaries to "come to [their] senses" and describing the call for war as an attempted coup and a "stab in the back."

"This is a stab in the back of the country and the president," Alekseyev says in the video, according to a translation from The Financial Times' Moscow bureau chief Max Seddon. "Only the president has the right to appoint the military leadership, and you are trying to attack his authority. This is a state coup. Come to your senses!"

Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Anton Gerashchenko pointed out in a tweet that the videos from both Surovikin and Alekseyev featured "suspiciously similar backgrounds," speculating that they "look like they've been arrested."

Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, also urged Wagner Group fighters to disobey Prigozhin's orders, demanding "an immediate cessation of unlawful actions" and announcing that the mercenary leader would be prosecuted for "incitement to armed rebellion."

Multiple videos posted to social media appeared to show a significant number of military vehicles moving through the streets of Moscow early Saturday morning. Russian state-run news agency TASS reported that "security measures in Moscow have been tightened."

Newsweek has reached out to the Wagner Group via email for comment.