Last Updated: June 24, 2023, 5:10 PM IST
Russian servicemen walk along a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia on June 24, 2023. Russia’s security services have responded to mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s declaration of an armed rebellion by calling for his arrest. (AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to defend Russia against an armed rebellion by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led his troops out of Ukraine and into a key city south of Moscow
Will the armed rebellion by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led his troops out of Ukraine and into a key city south of Moscow on Saturday, affect the morale of Vladimir Putin’s army? Only to some extent, sources close to the Kremlin told News18.
“On the other hand, morale can be reinforced. Probably only some people would like to sympathise with Prigozhin, but not the majority,” the source said.
Once a low-profile businessman who benefited from having President Vladimir Putin as a powerful patron, Yevgeny Prigozhin moved into the global spotlight with Russia’s war in Ukraine.
As the leader of a mercenary force who depicts himself as fighting many of the Russian military’s toughest battles in Ukraine, the 62-year-old Prigozhin has now moved into his most dangerous role yet: preaching open rebellion against his country’s military leadership.
Prigozhin, owner of the Kremlin-allied Wagner Group, has escalated what have been months of scathing criticism of Russia’s conduct of the war by calling for an armed uprising to oust the defense minister. Russian security services reacted immediately, opening a criminal investigation and urging Prigozhin’s arrest.
The uprising, which Putin called “a stab in the back,” is the biggest threat to his leadership in over two decades in power.
The private army led by Prigozhin appears to control the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city 660 miles (over 1,000 kilometers) south of Moscow that runs Russian offensive operations in Ukraine, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence briefing.
As the fast-moving events unfolded in Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow is suffering “full-scale weakness” and that Kyiv was protecting Europe from “the spread of Russian evil and chaos.”
Prigozhin confirmed Saturday he and his troops reached Rostov-on-Don after crossing the border from Ukraine.
He posted a video of himself at the Russian military headquarters in Rostov and claimed that his forces had taken control of the air field and other military facilities in the city. Other videos posted on social media showed military vehicles, including tanks, on the streets.
Prigozhin said his forces faced no resistance from young conscripts as they crossed into Russia, saying his troops “aren’t fighting against children.”
“But we will destroy anyone who stands in our way,” he said in one of a series of angry video and audio recordings posted on social media beginning late Friday. “We are moving forward and will go until the end.”
In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin took the threat, authorities declared a “counterterrorist regime” in Moscow and its surroundings, allowing restricted freedoms and enhancing security in the capital.
It was not immediately clear how Prigozhin was able to enter the southern Russian city or how many troops he had with him.
Prigozhin said his aim was to punish Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu after Russian government forces attacked Wagner field camps in Ukraine with rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery.