Wagner Group 'About to Get Totally Crushed' by Russia: Security Expert

The Russian mercenary organization Wagner Group is about to be "crushed" by Russia after the group's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin declared war on the country's Ministry of Defense, according to a national security expert.

Prigozhin, who has a history of criticizing Russia's military leadership, on Friday accused Moscow of attacking Wagner positions in Ukraine with missiles before announcing on Telegram that he was "declaring war on the Russian Ministry of Defense" in response. The Russian military has denied responsibility for the purported attacks.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin "has been briefed on all events around Prigozhin" and that "the necessary measures are being taken," according to Russian state-run news agency TASS.

Dmitri Alperovitch, founder of the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Silverado Policy Accelerator, shot down suggestions that the conflict would result in the development of a new Russian civil war, predicting in a series of tweets that Prigozhin's forces would quickly be defeated.

"No, this is not likely to turn into a civil war," Alperovitch tweeted. "It is what in Russia is called 'razborki' (gangland warfare) And it looks like one gang is about to get totally crushed because the other has all the weapons and the security services on their side."

"One might realize that the fight is lost when your only recourse against military airstrikes on your camp and arrest warrants for insurrection is to put out bad quality audio messages on Telegram," he added. "But I'm not sure Prigozhin is smart enough to figure that one out just yet."

A short time later, a Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel announced "we're starting," hinting that an attack on the Russian military had been launched.

In additional tweets, Alperovitch suggested that Prigozhin "might not survive the weekend" due to his declaration of war, while commenting that "this show is very entertaining but unfortunately it might be a very short one."

Russian General Sergey Surovikin, who has previously been praised by Prigozhin, appeared in a video following the war declaration, urging Wagner fighters to disobey the orders of their leader and instead only follow commands from Putin.

"I appeal to the leadership, commanders and fighters of PMC Wagner," Surovikin said. "I call on you to stop. 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," he added.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Wagner Group via email for comment.