Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of Wagner Group, a private mercenary, is leading an attack on Russia and Vladimir Putin, the country’s president.

The Wagner boss’ angst with the Russian state, which he helped invade Ukraine, stems from his belief that Russian troops intentionally attacked and killed his men. Putin denied this, but both men are heading for a civil war that could cause a Russian implosion.

Prigozhin’s first significant move came on Friday, when his troops invaded Rostov-on-Don, a Russian city. Putin dubbed this treasonous and swore to retaliate.

The Wagner chief believes he is the one retaliating after the Russian military wronged him.

In an open address on Friday, he said, “There are 25,000 of us and we are going to find out why there is such chaos in the country.”

Reacting via an address to the nation on Saturday morning, Putin said, “It is a stab in the back of our country and our people.” He described Prigozhin’s actions as “an armed rebellion.”

The differences in opinion continued as the Wagner chief took to Telegram to describe his group as patriots and declare that they would not turn themselves in.

Prigozhin said his forces had taken control of Russian military facilities in Rostov-on-Don, an important operations base for Russia’s war in Ukraine. He also threatened to march on Moscow if top Russian military chiefs did not meet with him in Rostov.

The Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s internal security force, opened a criminal case against Prighozhin, accusing him of calling for “an armed rebellion”.

“Prigozhin’s statements and actions are in fact calls for the start of an armed civil conflict on the territory of the Russian Federation and are a stab in the back of Russian servicemen fighting pro-fascist Ukrainian forces,” an FSB statement said, calling for Wagner fighters to detain their leader.

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Following this call, unconfirmed reports alleged some Wagner fighters made an attempt on Prigozhin’s life, failed and were eliminated.

PRIGOZHIN’S RELATIONSHIP WITH PUTIN

Putin and Prigozhin share a relationship that dates back to the 20th century. In the 1990s, Prigozhin won and executed several catering contracts for the Kremlin, and was dubbed ‘Putin’s chef’.

In 2014, he founded the Wagner Group, a notorious military outfit that became famous for human rights abuses in missions across various countries.

Wagner was an outfit that was established after Russia supported separatist movements in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.

In 2022, Wagner Group became more prominent as they participated in the full invasion of Ukraine.

Prigozhin sent troops with minimal training to the battlefield, recorded victories and took videos with his slain soldiers to mock the Russian military for being reserved.

The threat the Russian mercenary pose is nowhere near insignificant, and Putin seems to know this. On Saturday afternoon, the Russian leader fled the country. This was hours after he threatened Prigozhin.

While both men have declared war on themselves, how it ends remains to be seen as the crisis is only just in its second day.