Russian general urges Wagner Group to cease operations: ‘Halt the advance’

Russian Military and Intelligence Officials Issue Desperate Appeals Amidst Potential Conflict

Russian military and intelligence officials are sounding the alarm as they prepare for a potential clash with mercenary warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin. In a series of urgent appeals, they are urging Wagner Group fighters not to attack, fearing the consequences of an armed civil conflict on Russian soil.

“Stop any force actions against the Russian people”

“Prigozhin’s statements and actions effectively constitute calls for an armed civil conflict on Russian territory and a stab in the back of Russian servicemen,” the Russian Federal Security Service said Friday. “We call on the PMC fighter not to commit irreparable mistakes, to stop any force actions against the Russian people, and not to comply with criminal and traitorous orders of Prigozhin, and to take measures on his apprehension.”

This plea is just one of many public statements from Russian senior leaders who are desperately trying to prevent a violent confrontation with Prigozhin, also known as “Putin’s chef” due to his restaurant businesses. Military leaders are particularly concerned that internal crisis could undermine Russian efforts to repel the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

General Sergey Surovikin, appearing on camera with a rifle on his knee, emphasized the need to halt the columns and return them to their permanent positions and places of concentration.

The Kremlin faces a significant risk as Prigozhin’s forces have been bolstered by recruits from Russian prisons over the past year. This move, authorized by Putin to address a manpower shortage caused by Russian casualties, has created a volatile situation.

“He has prisoners on his side,” a senior European official revealed. “They don’t want to go [back] to prison. They have been given weapons. They have tasted freedom again, with a weapon in hand. It was playing with fire when they started to recruit prisoners to fight against Ukraine.”

Prigozhin’s public relations team dismissed the appeal, taking a jab at Surovikin’s role in Russia’s loss of Kherson last fall. The Wagner Group declared, according to a War Translated project, that all the generals appealing to them have signed their own verdict and will face a tribunal.

These statements have added credibility to Prigozhin’s intention to use force against Russian defense authorities. He claims that the military leadership of the country must be stopped and that there is widespread lawlessness that needs to be addressed.

Prigozhin denies any intention to conduct a coup, framing his actions as a march for justice against corrupt defense officials rather than an attempt to overthrow Putin. However, Putin and his associates recognized the risk in empowering Prigozhin.

“Prigozhin created an army, achieved success in the war, got the right to say things that no one else can say,” an unnamed Russian official told the Moscow Times. “And now, he felt like a messiah. And all the way, not once did he fall off the horse. … That is the result.”

The casualties that forced Putin to empower Prigozhin could make it challenging to quell a rebellion if the two sides come to blows.

“The problem [for Putin] is that Russians don’t have very good forces to oppose them,” the senior European official explained. “It’s not Turkey a few years ago when there were members of the military who thought they would do a coup because Turkey’s military hadn’t been exhausted in a war against a very strong enemy.”

The source continued, “If the fight starts, it’s going to be interesting.”

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