Russian Volunteer Corps invites Wagner mercenaries to avenge ‘founding father’ Prigozhin by fighting on Ukraine’s side and then marching on Moscow
In the wake of the plane crash that likely killed the paramilitary Wagner Group’s founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), an armed formation fighting on the side of Ukraine in the war with Russia, has released a video addressed to Wagner mercenaries.
In the video, the far-right activist and RVC commander Denis Kapustin (also known as Denis Nikitin) invites Wagner fighters to join the militant group, which claims to be part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. (These claims have neither been confirmed nor denied by Kyiv.)
“If you didn’t perpetrate war crimes, we invite you to join our ranks,” Kapustin said, before appealing to the mercenaries’ loyalties:
It appears that your founding father and commanders were cynically executed yesterday. And you know very well who stands behind this. You’re now faced with a serious choice: either to walk into the Defense Ministry stables as chained dogs in the service of your commanders’ executioners, or to avenge them. And to avenge them, you must switch sides and serve Ukraine.
Kapustin promised that the corps would start a new march on Moscow, going further than Prigozhin’s troops did during their armed insurrection in June.
“Let’s put an end to this bloody meat-grinder,” he said about the Russian invasion, “and then turn around and march on Moscow.” “This time,” he added, “we won’t stop 200 kilometers south of the Moscow Ring Road. We’ll go to the end.”
A post on RVC’s Telegram channel claims that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will guarantee the safety of mercenaries who change sides and join the Russian Volunteer Corps. Kyiv has not confirmed this information.