Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has explained why he declared that his men would march on Moscow in a fresh 11-minute audio message released by the head of the group.

Mr. Prigozhin is speaking for the first time after the 24-hour mutiny that took the world and President Vladimir Putin by surprise.

The head of the Wagner group said he didn’t target Putin when he declared his troops would march on Moscow, saying: “We didn’t march to overthrow Russia’s leadership.”

In his 11-minute video message, he says: “The aim of the march was to avoid destruction of Wagner and to hold to account the officials who through their unprofessional actions have committed a massive number of errors”.

He added that Wagner regrets “they had to hit Russian aviation” and they turned around “to avoid spilling blood of Russian soldiers.”

Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Russian officials are examining whether Western special services were involved in Wagner’s mutiny on Saturday, BBC quoted Tass news agency.

Lavrov further claims that the US ambassador in Moscow “gave signals” that Washington was not involved, and that what happened was a Russian internal matter.

i-News Nigeria reported that Russia was on Saturday thrown into a state of fear and confusion after Wagner militia chief Yevgney Prigozhin initiated a military rebellion against President Vladimir Putin and his regime.

Yevgeny Prigozhin called for a rebellion against the army, but has denied plotting a coup.

The head of the private military contractor maintains his forces are on a “march for justice” to remove corrupt and incompetent commanders he holds responsible for the botched Ukrainian war.

While responding to the development, president Putin said the Wagner leader had ‘stabbed him in the back,’ while promising to defend the country.