The founder of Wagner’s mercenary group has accused the Russian command of carrying out deadly attacks on his militant camps, while the Russian army has denied bombing the paramilitary group’s positions, AFP and Reuters reported.

Tensions between Wagner and Russia’s regular army are rising after Yevgeny Prigozhin made startling new allegations that reveal deep tensions within Moscow’s forces in Ukraine.

Yevgeny Prigozhin on Friday accused the Russian military of destroying his fighter jets, without explaining his accusation, and promised to stop the “evil” of the military leadership.

In a series of audio messages on his official Telegram channel, Prigozhin said that the “evil” of Russia’s military leadership “must be stopped,” adding:

• “Those who destroyed our boys, who destroyed the lives of many tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, will be punished. I ask that no one resist.”

Channels associated with Wagner’s group have shared videos showing the consequences of a Russian attack on mercenary positions in Ukraine.

“The messages and videos posted on social networks by Ye. Prigozhin regarding the alleged strikes of the Russian Ministry of Defense on the rear bases of the Wagner PMC are untrue and provocative,” the Ministry of Defense said.

Prigozhin stated that the invasion of Ukraine was based on lies

Earlier, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner’s mercenary company, said on Friday that the Kremlin’s arguments for invading Ukraine were based on lies invented by his opponent, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

• “Nothing extraordinary happened on February 24… The Ministry of Defense is trying to deceive society and the president and tell us the story that it was a crazy aggression on the part of Ukraine and that they planned to attack us with the whole of NATO,” Prigozhin said, calling the official version “beautiful history”.
• “It took a war … for Shoigu to become a marshal … for him to receive the second Hero medal [al Rusiei]. The war was not necessary for the demilitarization or denazification of Ukraine.”

He said that Moscow could have reached an agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before the war, and that the conflict was a disaster for Russia, and that tens of thousands of lives were needlessly sacrificed, including members of Russia’s most capable forces.

Depicting senior officers as fools who drank vodka, brandy and caviar, he argued that corruption was hampering Russia’s military efforts.

“We are bathing in our own blood,” he said. “Time flies quickly.”

The news is updated.