<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">The head of the Wagner mercenary group vowed Saturday to "go to the end" to topple the Russian military leadership, whom he accused of launching strikes on his men, while the country's prosecutor general said he was under investigation for "armed rebellion".</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We are going onwards and we will go to the end," Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, said in an audio message.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We will destroy everything that stands in our way," he added in the most audacious challenge to President Vladimir Putin since the start of the offensive in Ukraine last year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He later claimed his forces had shot down a Russian military helicopter.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"A helicopter has just now opened fire at a civilian column. It has been shot down by units of PMC Wagner," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prigozhin earlier said his forces, who have spearheaded much of Russia's offensive, had entered the southern Russian region of Rostov but did not provide any proof and AFP could not independently verify his claims.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Moscow, authorities have tightened security measures, with critical facilities "put under reinforced protection", the TASS state-run news agency reported, citing a law enforcement source.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The FSB security service urged Wagner fighters to "take measures to detain" Prigozhin.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Putin was being given regular updates on the unfolding tensions between the Wagner group and the defence ministry, the Kremlin said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov had informed Putin of "the initiation of a criminal case in connection with an attempt to organise an armed rebellion," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Missile strikes -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The extraordinary developments came after Prigozhin accused Moscow of targeting his forces with deadly missile strikes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"They (Russia's military) conducted missile strikes at our rear camps. A huge number of our fighters, our comrades died," Prigozhin said in a series of furious audio messages released by his spokespeople.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The council of commanders of PMC Wagner has made a decision -- the evil that the military leadership of the country brings must be stopped."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He warned Russians against resisting his forces and called on them to join him, adding "there are 25,000 of us".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We need to put an end to this mess," he said, adding, "this is not a military coup, but a march of justice".</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a statement, the FSB said: "Prigozhin's statements and actions are in fact a call to start an armed civil conflict on the territory of the Russian Federation and a stab in the back to Russian servicemen fighting pro-fascist Ukrainian forces".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While Prigozhin's outfit has spearheaded much of Russia's offensive in Ukraine, he has in recent months engaged in a bitter feud with Moscow's military leadership and has repeatedly blamed Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, for his fighters' deaths.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- 'Provocation' -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Russian defence ministry denied Prigozhin's claims of an attack on his forces, saying the statements "do not correspond to reality", and calling them a "provocation".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It later said Ukrainian troops were taking advantage of the infighting to ready an assault near the east Ukraine hotspot of Bakhmut.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A prominent Russian general urged Prigozhin to call off efforts to remove the leadership of Moscow's defence ministry.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I urge you to stop," Sergei Surovikin, commander of Russia's aerospace forces, said in a highly unusual video address.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The enemy is just waiting for the internal political situation to worsen in our country. Before it is too late, it is necessary... to obey the will and order of the popularly elected President of the Russian Federation".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kyiv said it was monitoring the infighting in Moscow.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We are watching," the Ukrainian defence ministry tweeted, while Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said rival Russian factions had begun to "eat each other over power and money".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukraine was also on high alert after new Russian missile strikes Saturday, with explosions reported in Kyiv and the eastern city of Kharkiv.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">US President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation in Russia and Washington "will be consulting with allies and partners on these developments", National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Friday, Prigozhin said Moscow's forces were retreating in Ukraine's east and south following the start of Kyiv's counteroffensive early this month. That directly contradicted Putin's account that Ukraine was suffering "catastrophic" losses and that there was a lull in fighting.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We are washing ourselves in blood," Prigozhin said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"No one is bringing reserves. What they tell us is the deepest deception," he added, referring to the Russian military and political leadership.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Questioning military operation -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After years of operating in the shadows, Prigozhin has now admitted to running the elusive mercenary group Wagner and even interfering in US elections.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">His forces, bolstered by tens of thousands of prison recruits, played a central role in Russia's capture of the town of Bakhmut in the eastern region of Donetsk, the longest and bloodiest battle of the conflict.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, this week he accused Moscow's top brass of deceiving Russians about the offensive in Ukraine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Why did the special military operation begin?" he said. "The war was needed for the self-promotion of a bunch of bastards."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rarely has such a controversial figure shot to this degree of prominence on the Russian political stage under Putin.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prigozhin rose from a modest background to become part of the inner circle around Putin.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He spent nine years in prison in the final period of the USSR after being convicted of fraud and theft. In the chaos of the 1990s, he began a moderately successful business selling hot dogs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">From there he fell into the restaurant business and opened a luxury location in Saint Petersburg whose customers included Putin, then making the transition from working in the KGB to local politics.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, in recent months, Prigozhin has become embroiled in a bitter power struggle with the defence ministry.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He has accused the Russian military of attempting to "steal" victories in Ukraine from his forces, and slammed Moscow's "monstrous bureaucracy" for slowing military gains. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>