Wagner Group Urges To Retaliate Prigozhin's Death, Russian Militant: You Need To Take Ukraine

A wreath in front of PMC Wagner Center headquarters, St. Petersburg, Russia. (Wikimedia Commons/FITY CC)

JAKARTA - A group of Russian militants fighting on the Ukrainian side, called on Wagner Group mercenaries to switch sides and join their ranks, to avenge the deaths of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and their commander Dmitry Litin.

Russian air authorities said Prigozhin and eight other people were on a private plane that crashed north of Moscow on Wednesday. There were no survivors in the incident.

"You are facing serious options now, standing in the position of the Russian Ministry of Defense and supervising your executors or taking revenge," Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) Commander Denis Kapustin said in a video address.

"To take revenge, you need to side with Ukraine," the commander said.

The accident came two months after Prigozhin and Wagner mercenaries launched an uprising against Russian military officials in which they control the southern city of Rostov and advance towards Moscow before turning about 200 kilometers from the capital.

Russia has opened an investigation into the accident, but the results do not seem to destabilize widespread confidence that Prigozhin was killed as an act of revenge for a rebellion.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his "sincere condolences" to the families of the 10 people on the plane, and praised Prigozhin as "a talented entrepreneur".

It is known, RVC Commander Kapustin, a Russian far-right citizen, founded the armed group a year ago.

RVC is at war on the Ukrainian side, saying it was behind several military attacks on Russia's border areas.

"Let's end the bloody special military operation," Kapustin said in a speech to Wagner fighters who used Russia's official name for the invasion of Ukraine.

"After that, we will march to Moscow and this time we will not stop 200 kilometers before the Moscow ring road, but will continue to run until the end," he concluded.