The head of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, issued a statement almost two days after the retreat from Rostov. According to him, “the purpose of the campaign was to prevent the destruction of the Wagner PMC and to bring to justice all persons who, through their unprofessional actions, made a huge number of mistakes during the “SVO”.”
According to him, the Wagner PMC was supposedly going to disarm on June 30, but a blow was dealt to its militants, as a result of which about 30 people were killed.
“We did not want to shed Russian blood. We went to demonstrate our protest, and not to overthrow the government in the country,” Prigozhin said.
Prigozhin stressed that the local residents welcomed the Wagnerites with enthusiasm, as they hoped that they would solve problems, including corruption.
He stressed that no one was hurt on earth from his actions.
Meanwhile, it was previously reported that the losses of the Russian army as a result of a military mutiny could range from four to 20 people. In addition, Wagner PMC mercenaries destroyed at least two combat helicopters and one aircraft.
Telegram-channel "Baza" reported that the first helicopter was shot down at about five o'clock in the morning on June 24, during a clash near the Voronezh village of Elizavetovka. All crew members managed to escape. The second helicopter crashed five hours later near the village of Filonovo.
Also on the morning of June 24, the Wagenrovites fired a rocket at an Il-22 aircraft, which crashed near the village of Kantemirovka. According to preliminary information, four people died as a result of its fall.
Channel One military commander Irina Kuksenkova claimed that there were 10 people on board the downed plane.
“When Prigozhin was already asked at the headquarters of the Southern Military District why [the Il-22 was shot down], because this aircraft does not strike, but performs other functions, he said – and the fool PVE in the convoy shot down everything that took off,” she said.
According to the propagandist, after these words, the head of the Wagner PMC agreed to pay 50 million compensation to the families of the dead pilots.
Also on the evening of June 24 , it was reported that a Ka-52 Alligator helicopter was shot down near the Voronezh village of Komintern and two dead pilots were reported.
In total, according to the Flightbomber Telegram channel, we can talk about six destroyed helicopters. Sibir.Realii wrote about 20 dead servicemen.
Kommersant reported earlier that the criminal case on the organization of an armed rebellion, the main defendant of which is Prigozhin, has not been terminated and continues to be investigated by the investigation department of the FSB of Russia.
Prigozhin, together with his mercenaries, captured part of the military facilities in Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh on the night of June 24. Despite the information about the case initiated against him, he said that he was not going to turn himself in at the request of Putin, the FSB or "anyone else."
However, the press service of Alexander Lukashenko announced on June 24 in the evening that the founder of Wagner PMC agreed to stop the convoy after negotiations with Lukashenka. Prigozhin himself did not say anything about the negotiations. Lukashenko personally did not comment on the conversation with the founder of the PMC either. On the evening of June 24, videos began to appear with Wagner PMC fighters leaving Rostov-on-Don.