By Chris Muhizi Minembwe Capital News Wednesday 31st May 2023.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian Wagner mercenary leader , announced on Wednesday that he has requested prosecutors look into any “crimes” committed by senior Russian defense officials prior to or during the conflict in Ukraine.

Prigozhin said, “Today I sent letters to the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation with a request to check on the fact of a crime being committed during the planning and during the conduct of the SMO (Special Military Operation) by a number of senior functionaries of the Defence Ministry.
Because the appropriate investigative authorities will handle this, these letters won’t be publicized.

In statements made this week, he said that he was still informing the nation’s top authorities about issues and criticized senior Kremlin figures for preventing media coverage of him and his private force.

Alongside Russia’s military forces in Ukraine, Prigozhin’s private army has been engaged in combat. It was in charge of the months-long assault on the eastern city of Bakhmut, which was eventually defeated earlier this month.

With his proposal, Prigozhin has issued his most overt public challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s top military officials, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

Shoigu and Gerasimov, who are in charge of Russia’s military effort, have both been insulted for alleged treason by prigozhin Yevgeny for months.Both have stayed silent in response to his criticism.

He summarized his political viewpoint, which he claims includes loyalty to Putin, as follows: “I love my motherland, I serve Putin, Shoigu should be judged, and we will fight on.”

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner private mercenary company, issues this statement regarding the beginning of the withdrawal of his forces from Bakhmut and the transfer of their positions to regular Russian troops during the Russia-Ukraine confrontation in Bakhmut.