TheCable

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, says the rebellion of Wagner Group, a private mercenary force in Russia, has revealed the “full-scale weakness” of the Kremlin.

In a post on his Twitter account on Saturday, Zelenskyy said the mercenary group’s actions had unmasked the “stupidity” of the Russian government.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Wagner Group, had announced that he would be mobilising his troops against the Russian military and President Vladmir Putin.

Prigozhin said his fighters had crossed the border from Ukraine into Russia and would destroy anyone in their way, including roadblocks and aircraft.

The group had been fighting alongside the Russian army in Ukraine.

Reacting to the development, Zelenskyy said Russia is in “so much chaos that no lie can hide it”.

He said “the longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries on our land, the more chaos, pain, and problems it will have for itself later”.

“Everyone who chooses the path of evil destroys himself. Who sends columns of troops to destroy the lives of another country and cannot stop them from fleeing and betraying when life resists,” Zelenskyy wrote.

“Who terrorizes with missiles, and when they are shot down, humiliates himself to receive Shahed drones. Who despises people and throws hundreds of thousands into the war in order to eventually barricade himself in the Moscow region from those whom he himself armed.

“For a long time, Russia used propaganda to mask its weakness and the stupidity of its government. And now there is so much chaos that no lie can hide it. And all this is one person, who again and again scares by the year 1917, although he is able to result in nothing else but this. Russia’s weakness is obvious. Full-scale weakness.

“And the longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries on our land, the more chaos, pain, and problems it will have for itself later. It is also obvious. Ukraine is able to protect Europe from the spread of Russian evil and chaos. We keep our resilience, unity and strength.”

Putin has described the mercenary group’s rebellion as “a stab in the back”. He also called the uprising a “betrayal” and “treason”.