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The FSB said the decision was made due to the seriousness of the situation and the threat of escalation in Russia.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) on Friday opened a criminal case against Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin on charges of organizing an armed mutiny.
The criminal case against Prigozhin was opened "under Article 279 of the Russian Criminal Code for organizing an armed riot," according to the statement from Russia's Prosecutor General's Office.
The FSB press office said the decision was made due to the seriousness of the situation and the threat of escalation in Russia. It called on the fighters not to carry out Prigozhin's orders and to detain him.
The founder of the Wagner PMC earlier claimed via his Telegram channel that the Russian Defense Ministry targeted PMC units with air strikes and called on its supporters to rise up against the national government.
Russia's FSB security service has opened a criminal case against Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia's Wagner private military group, for calling for armed mutiny, Russian media reported on Friday, citing the National Antiterrorism Committee. pic.twitter.com/rEAHsUS0Xu
— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) June 24, 2023
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the information about alleged attacks on the Wagner Group is false.
"All messages and videos circulating in social networks on behalf of Prigozhin about the alleged 'attack by the Russian Defense Ministry on the rear camps of the Wagner Group' do not correspond to reality and are an information provocation," the ministry said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is aware of the situation and that "necessary measures are being taken."
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