MOSCOW: The leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, once a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin and now labelled a traitor, acknowledged that the uprising had claimed lives, reported German news agency (dpa).
“During our march, not a single soldier was killed on the ground. We regret that we were forced to shoot down flying objects, but that is because they bombed us,” he said.
According to reports by Russian military bloggers, six Russian army helicopters and one aircraft were destroyed and their crews killed in the clash.
Prigozhin praised the march on Moscow as exemplary of how the full-scale invasion of Ukraine ordered by Putin on Feb 24, 2022, should have proceeded.
A rapid advance of units, the elimination of all military sites of the enemy on the way – and practically without casualties. On the Wagner side, two soldiers were killed and several mercenaries were injured, Prigozhin said.