Prigozhin at a foreign investors meeting in St. Petersburg in 2016.
Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ripped in Russia’s military leaders over drone attacks in Moscow.
“Why the f–k are you allowing these drones to fly to Moscow?” Prigozhin said.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin downplayed the attacks and said Russia’s air defenses worked well.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the notorious Wagner mercenary group, excoriated Russia’s military leaders after a rare drone attack in Moscow on Tuesday, which brought the war in Ukraine home for Russian civilians in a new way.
“Why the f–k are you allowing these drones to fly to Moscow?” Prigozhin said in a rant directed at the Russian Defense Ministry, per Reuters, apparently infuriated that drones were able to reach the Russian capital.
“Let your houses burn,” Prigozhin added.
“And what should ordinary people do when drones with explosives crash into their windows? So as a citizen, I am deeply outraged that these scum sit quietly with their a—holes smeared with expensive creams. And that’s why I think the people have every right to ask them these questions, these bastards,” Prigozhin, who has repeatedly butted heads with Russia’s military leadership, continued.
“But I have already warned about this many times, but no one wants to listen. Because I’m angry and I upset bureaucrats who have a great life,” he added.
The Kremlin downplayed the significance of the attack, which caused damage to some buildings and led residents to evacuate their homes, the Associated Press reported.
In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said that it shot down five drones and used signal jamming to send several more off course.
Despite the criticism from Prigozhin, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia’s air defense system “worked well,” per Reuters.
Peskov blamed Kyiv for the attack and said it was evidence that the war in Ukraine should continue. “It is, of course, obvious that this is an attack by the Kyiv regime. And this must be absolutely clearly understood,” Peskov said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also said the air defense system “worked in a satisfactory way,” and accused Ukraine of engaging in terrorism.
Ukraine has denied direct involvement in the drone attack on the Russian capital.
Meanwhile, Kyiv was bombarded by Russia once again overnight, marking the “17th round of air strikes on Kyiv this month, many of which have devastated civilian areas,” according to a State Department spokesperson, per CBS News.