Russia accuses Wagner head of threatening coup, opens criminal probe

Russia’s FSB security services accused the head of the powerful Wagner mercenary group of plotting a coup in Moscow, in a dramatic escalation of infighting stirred up by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The bulk of Wagner’s mercenaries are deployed in eastern Ukraine, most recently near the city of Bakhmut, where they were at the forefront of a nine-month siege that resulted in its eventual capture. Mr. Prigozhin implied Friday that he now intended to move against the Russian command structure. “Anyone who tries to resist – we will consider this a threat and eliminate them immediately, as well as any obstacles in our way.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the long-ruling Russian leader was being kept abreast of developments. “President Putin has been briefed on all events around Prigozhin. The necessary measures are being taken,” Mr. Peskov said. Mr. Prigozhin, a convicted thief who spent nine years in prison during the Soviet era, first rose to prominence via the restaurant business in his native St. Petersburg. He became known as “Putin’s chef” as his Concord Catering company won a host of Kremlin contracts in the early 2000s. Mr. Prigozhin personally served food to not only Mr. Putin, but also to visiting heads of state including George W. Bush and Jacques Chirac.

But strains between Wagner and the regular Russian military emerged as soon as the 16-month-old invasion of Ukraine started to go awry. In October, shortly after Ukrainian forces routed Russian troops in the eastern Kharkiv region, Mr. Prigozhin suggested that Russia’s top generals should be sent to the frontlines themselves “barefoot with machine guns.”

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