He made the comments on Twitter amid an apparent mutiny by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin against the Russian military.
“Russia’s weakness is obvious. Full-scale weakness,” Zelensky wrote.
“And the longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries on our land, the more chaos, pain and problems it will have for itself later,” he added.
Prigozhin has been accused by the government of staging an armed insurrection. The charges were brought late Friday night after Prigozhin accused Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and General Valery Gerasimov, the chair of the Russian general staff, of serious crimes. The Wagner chief claimed to have ordered troops loyal to him to move towards Rostov-on-Don, a major city in southern Russia.
The Wagner private military group claims to have taken control of key military facilities in two Russian cities, Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh. Prigozhin pledged to blockade Rostov and move on to Moscow if Russia’s Defense Minister and top general did not meet with him in the city, where Russia’s Southern Military District is headquartered.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned those on “path of treason” or armed rebellion will be “punished” as Wagner insurrection plunges country into crisis.
Prigozhin has refused to surrender, and called Putin “deeply mistaken” following the Russian president’s address describing his actions as betrayal.
