https://yournews.com/2023/06/26/2593836/russian-mercenary-leader-says-he-did-not-aim-to-overthrow/
June 26 (Reuters) – The boss of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group broke his silence on Monday, two days after leading an aborted mutiny, saying he had never intended to overthrow the government while giving few clues about his own fate or the deal under which he stood down.
In the first public remarks released since he was last seen on Saturday night smiling and high-fiving bystanders from the back of an SUV as he withdrew from a city occupied by his men, Yevgeny Prigozhin said his fighters had halted their campaign to avert bloodshed.
“We went as a demonstration of protest, not to overthrow the government of the country,” Prigozhin said in an 11-minute audio message released on the Telegram messaging app.
“Our march showed many things we discussed earlier: the serious problems with security in the country.”
He said his goal had been to prevent his Wagner militia’s destruction, and to force accountability on commanders who had botched Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine. He said his fighters did not engage in combat on the ground in Russia, and regretted having to shoot down Russian aircraft that had fired on them.
“We halted at the moment when the first assault unit deployed its artillery (near Moscow), conducted reconnaissance and realised that a lot of blood would be spilled.”
He made no mention of his own whereabouts or future plans, and revealed no further details of the mysterious agreement that brought a halt to his mutiny. On Saturday he had said he was leaving for Belarus under a deal brokered by that country’s president.