A former Wagner fighter described Prigozhin as a 'cocky idiot' who pitted soldiers against each other for personal gain

• Some Wagner fighters have condemned Yevgeny Prigozhin for leading the armed revolt against Russia.
• One fighter, identified only as Roman, told the Moscow Times that Prigozhin is a "cocky idiot."

An ex-Wagner fighter who defected to the Russian army described paramilitary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin as a "cocky idiot" who pitted soldiers against each other for personal gain, according to the Moscow Times.

The former Wagner PMC mercenary, identified only as Roman, 35, from Moscow, told the outlet on Monday that he was shocked when Prigozhin declared an uprising and ordered the occupation of a military base in Rostov-on-Don on June 24.

The armed rebellion only lasted a few hours before a deal was struck that allowed Prigozhin to go into exile in Belarus. The deal also mean charges against Wagner fighters were dropped.

"My comrades and I fought for the country, not for some cocky idiot and his personal ambitions," Roman told the Moscow Times, referring to the infighting between Prigozhin and Russian military leaders that preceded the attempted rebellion.

Roman said that he left his job in the financial sector last year to join Wagner out of a sense of "civic duty," but that he did not agree with Prigozhin's rebellion.

The former soldier, who fought in Bakhmut for nine months, also blamed Russian leadership for allowing the conflict to escalate.

"Our comrades have killed each other, a huge amount of military equipment has been destroyed, people are scared, not to mention the damage to the reputation of Russia in the geopolitical arena, and the parquet generals are still in their places," he said.

Another former Wagner fighter, identified only as Vlad, told the Moscow Times that he signed up for Wagner to "defend his country" and not "out of sympathy for Prigozhin." He also defected to the Russian army.

"I would never allow myself to point weapons at our own people and against our own country," Vlad said.

The armed rebellion was the tipping point of a long-lasting and very public feud between Prigozhin and Russian military officials, including Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and the Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

It is now unclear what the future of Russia's military and Wagner's role in Ukraine look like, though experts have said that it could mean that the paramilitary group will be given a total rebrand.

Prigozhin has been difficult to pin down since Wagner's mutiny. He was supposedly in exile in Belarus but has appeared in St. Petersburg as recently as last week.