Russia's mercenary leader abandons war front, Moscow orders arrest

Moscow has issued an arrest warrant for the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, accusing him of inciting an armed rebellion against the government.

Prigozhin has long feuded with the Ministry of Defense over its prosecution of the war in Ukraine. On Frida night, tensions reached a boiling point as Prigozhin announced he had withdrawn his forces the front and entered Russia via Rostov, CNN reported. He accused the Kremlin of attacking his men, which the government has strongly denied.

Russia has opened a criminal case into the mercenary leader for inciting an armed rebellion.

"Amid the seriousness of situation and the threat of escalation of confrontation in the Russian Federation the FSB has opened a criminal case into the fact of a call for an armed rebellion on the part of Yevgeny Prigozhin," read a statement from the Federal Security Service’s Public Relations Center, Russian state-aligned outlet TASS reported.

The situation remains extremely unclear, with Russian leaders calling on Wagner forces to reject armed conflict. 

"I urge you to stop. The enemy is waiting for our internal political situation to escalate," said Russian Deputy Commander in Ukraine Sergey Surovikin. "We must not play in enemy’s favor in this difficult time. Before it is too late, it is necessary to submit to the will and order to the nationally elected president of the Russian Federation, to stop the convoys, to take them back to their permanent deployment and concentration locations, and to only resolve all issues peacefully."

Prigozhin has denied any intent to stage a coup or undermine the war effort, saying "this is not a military coup, this is a march of justice. Our actions do not interfere with the troops in any way," per CNN.

Notably, Prigozhin has not directly levied criticisms of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has thus far remained completely silent on the matter.

On the battlefield, Wagner troops have proven some of Russia's most effective soldiers, with the group spearheading the seizure of Bakhmut earlier this year.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.