Radio stations in Russia’s Sverdlovsk region on Wednesday were hacked to broadcast a message telling listeners that only Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin “will protect Russia.” The message, sounding strangely like a campaign ad, featured the sound of air raid sirens as listeners were told that the top military brass is incapable of defending the country, according to local media. “While Prigozhin was taking [Bakhmut], the generals were asleep at the switch on Belgorod,” the message said, blaming the military for losing control of the border town where the war against Ukraine has seeped into Russian territory. “Who will stop the invasion of Russia?” the message asked, before naming the mercenary boss as the only person up for the job. Prigozhin, via his press service, denied having anything to do with the “hooliganism on the radio” and noted that “sentiments” critical of the Defense Ministry were now rampant in Russian society.
