Wagner Leader Declares War on Russian Military After Alleged Attack

The Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin on Friday accused the Russian military of attacking Wagner positions in Ukraine with missiles and declared war on the Russian Ministry of Defense.

"We are 25,000 strong, and we are going to figure out why chaos is happening in Russia," Prigozhin announced in a message shared on Telegram. "Everyone else is free to join us."

Prigozhin has long been critical of Russia's military leaders and frequently expresses his frustrations with them on Telegram. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is often a direct target of his denunciations, and Prigozhin on Thursday accused the defense minister of lying to Russian President Vladimir Putin about Russia's "colossal" battlefield failures.