After a drug attack on Moscow, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin criticized the Russian military leadership and its arms procurement.
MOSCOW – An incident in Moscow in which drones were sighted and shot down over a posh residential area of the Russian capital has caused an uproar in the country. Once again, the incident brought the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, onto the scene. Shortly after the attempted attack, he spoke up via his Telegram channel, insulted the military leadership and the administration of the Ministry of Defense and hinted that Russia could be massively inferior to the enemy in places.
After a translation of the news site t-online Prigozhin berated the authorities responsible for Russia’s security as “stinking bastards” and “assholes”. He also accused them of being no more than “bureaucrats enjoying a great life”.
Prigozhin with heavy criticism after attack on Moscow: “Let your houses burn”
In his criticism, which was probably also intended for Russia’s ruler Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin was emphatically close to the people and expressed concern that similar attacks could also threaten the poorer Russian civilian population. For example, he asked what ordinary citizens should do “when armed drones fly into their windows?”.
The oligarch, on the other hand, was emphatically indifferent to the well-heeled residents of Moscow’s posh Rublevka district, where, according to research by the news agency Reuters Putin should also own a luxury property: “If they (note the drones) fly to your houses in Rublevka, let your houses burn”. Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry of not having done anything that could help Russia. Prigozhin also accused the military leadership of being “years, maybe decades, behind our opponents” in the development of drones.
Drones over Moscow: Shoigu praises – Putin calls for the expansion of air defense
While Moscow is talking about the attack as an act of terrorism by Ukraine, according to media reports, Kiev has denied the allegations. Like the British Guardians reported, according to video recordings, at least one of the drones was a model of the UJ22 manufactured by Ukraine. According to Russian information, eight drones were shot down over Moscow early Tuesday morning. According to a report by the dpa news agency Several residential buildings were slightly damaged, two people slightly injured.
In addition to Prigozhin, who in recent days and weeks has repeatedly voiced severe criticism of the state and military leadership for various reasons and has thus already sparked speculation about coup plans, Putin and his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu have also commented on the alleged attack on Moscow. But even these two do not behave in the same way. While Shoigu praised the performance of the Russian air defense system after the drone attack, Putin emphasized in an appearance on state television that the air defense system urgently needs to be improved and expanded. (saka with dpa)