What's going on in Russia? Mercenary chief breaks silence

What's going on in Russia? Mercenary chief breaks silence

Russia stopped an armed rebellion. What’s next?

The head of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has released an audio statement saying his effort was not exactly an attempted coup but an act of protest against attacks on his military contractor troops.

It’s Prigozhin’s first comment since he abruptly ended an armed rebellion on Saturday after his troops made their way toward Moscow from bases in southern Russia.

“We started our march because of an injustice,” Prigozhin said in an 11-minute audio clip, according to a report from The Associated Press.

Prigozhin didn’t offer any details on where he was or what he plans to do now, the AP reported. The Kremlin previously said he agreed to move to Belarus as part of a deal to deescalate.

There has been no visual sighting of Prigohzin since he called off his attempt on Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been known to silence his dissenters, sometimes violently, and hold a grudge.

Prigozhin says the aim of his attempted uprising was to prompt the ouster of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. He also raised questions about the justification for the country’s ongoing war on Ukraine, which has led to bloodshed on the Russian side.

Before he called off what was seen as an attempted coup, the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee opened a criminal investigation into Prigozhin. Putin, himself, promised to take on the “armed mutiny.”