This comes on the day when, for the first time, a direct confrontation is emerging between the Wagner group and the Russian Ministry of Defense. The head of the Wagner mercenary group accused Russia of killing a "considerable number" of its forces in air strikes, and vowed to retaliate, openly declaring "war", thus multiplying tensions between Moscow and the private military company. Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, head of Wagner, whose men supported Russia's offensive in Ukraine, has stepped up his verbal attacks on Moscow in recent weeks, even questioning the necessity of the military operation. Once considered a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin is increasingly seen as keen to take on a political role as he engages in a merciless war of words with Moscow, which seems to have extended to the battlefield. "The PMC Wagner commanders' council has made a decision - the evil that the country's military leadership is bringing must be stopped," Prigozin declared in a series of angry audio messages broadcast by his spokesmen. "We were ready to make concessions to the Ministry of Defense, to surrender our weapons." "Today, seeing that we were not defeated, they carried out missile strikes on our rear camps. A considerable number of our fighters, our comrades died." He warned Russians against resisting his forces and called on them to join him, adding "there are 25,000 of us." The Russian Defense Ministry denied the allegations about the strikes, saying the statements "do not correspond to reality," and calling them a "provocation." @note16z5w7...