Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company.
AP Photo
Russian mercenary Yevgeny Prigozhin said Moscow’s troops left landmines in his forces’ way.
Prigozhin suspects that the explosives were intentionally left to harm his men as they withdrew.
His press service also said Russian troops, led by a drunk officer, opened fire on Wagner soldiers.
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin on Friday accused the Kremlin of leaving landmines in the path of his withdrawing forces, deepening his feud with Russia’s top military brass.
In a message on his press service’s Telegram channel, Prigozhin ruled out the possibility of Ukrainian forces planting the explosives.
“As of today, there are no provocations against us from the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Prigozhin said of the Wagner Group’s departure from the devastated region of Bakhmut. “However, it should be noted that surprises were waiting for us from the other side.”
Prigozhin claimed that his forces encountered “suspicious activity” on their way to the Russian rear, and said they found more than a dozen locations laid with “hundreds” of anti-tank mines and multiple tons of explosives.
The mercenary boss said the Wagner Group worked with law enforcement to investigate.
“Those who planted these charges were representatives of the Ministry of Defense,” Prigozhin claimed.
He said the landmines couldn’t have been placed to contain or harm Ukrainian troops, because they were located well in the rear zone of the Russian frontline.
“Therefore, it can be assumed that they wanted to meet the advancing units of the Wagner PMC with these charges,” Prigozhin said.
None of Wagner’s troops were harmed, he added.
Prigozhin is widely considered a close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, but he’s grown increasingly critical and hostile toward Moscow’s top military leaders over ammo shortages and perceived failures in the war.
Prigozhin said he assumed the landmines were part of an attempt to humiliate or punish him and his company publicly.
On Monday, his press service published a report detailing an incident they claimed was related to Prigozhin’s claims. The document was partially redacted and dated May 17. Insider could not independently verify its authenticity.
The report said Wagner troops traveling in Donetsk found landmines in their way and proceeded to clear the road.
But they suddenly received small arms fire from Russian forces, and the engine of one of Wagner’s service vehicles was hit, it added.
No one was injured, but Wagner forces “dismounted, dispersed, took retaliatory measures to eliminate aggression, and made arrests,” the document said.
The leader of the Russian brigade that fired on Prigozhin’s men was a lieutenant colonel, who was drunk when Wagner found him, per the document.
Prigozhin’s press service later released a video of a man saying he was the same lieutenant colonel who was intoxicated, and that he and his men opened fire on the Wagner Group because he personally disliked the mercenaries.
“The icing on the cake so there’s no doubt left,” Prigozhin wrote in a caption for the video. Insider could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
Russia’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment sent outside regular business hours.