Rostov and Moscow, Russia
June 23, 2023
"The owner of the Wagner private military contractor made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet on Friday, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia's defense minister. The security services reacted immediately by calling for the arrest of Yevgeny Prigozhin and opening a criminal investigation.
In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin was taking the threat, security was heightened in Moscow and in Rostov-on-Don, which is home to the Russian military headquarters for the southern region and also oversees the fighting in Ukraine.
While the outcome of the confrontation was still unclear, it appeared likely to further hinder Moscow's war effort as Kyiv's forces were probing Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive.
Prigozhin claimed early Saturday that his forces had crossed into Russia from Ukraine and had reached Rostov, saying they faced no resistance from young conscripts at checkpoints and that his forces "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."
He claimed that the chief of the General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, scrambled warplanes to strike Wagner's convoys, which were driving alongside ordinary vehicles.
Despite Prigozhin's statements that Wagner convoys had entered Rostov-on-Don, there was no confirmation of that yet on Russian social networks. Videos showed heavy trucks blocking highways leading to the city, long convoys of National Guard trucks were seen on a road outside Rostov-on-Don and armored vehicles were roaming the streets.
Prigozhin said Wagner field camps in Ukraine were struck by rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery fire on orders from Gerasimov following a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, at which they decided to destroy Wagner.
The Wagner forces have played a crucial role in Russia's war in Ukraine, succeeding in taking the city where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place, Bakhmut. But Prigozhin has increasingly criticized Russia's military brass, accusing it of incompetence and of starving his troops of weapons and ammunition.
Prigozhin said late Friday his troops would punish Shoigu in an armed rebellion and urged the army not to offer resistance. "This is not a military coup, but a march of justice," Prigozhin declared.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which is part of the Federal Security Services, or FSB, has charged him with calling for an armed rebellion, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
The FSB urged Wagner's contract soldiers to arrest Prigozhin and refuse to follow his "criminal and treacherous orders." It called his statements a "stab in the back to Russian troops" and said they amounted to fomenting an armed conflict in Russia.
President Vladimir Putin has been informed about the situation and "all the necessary measures were being taken," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said."
In other words, no one panic, there is no panic...
Source
Vid: Allegedly the first video of armed confrontation between Wagner fighters/forces and units from the Russian Ministry of Defense. Location not given.
2. Russian troops being trucked into Moscow earlier tonight.
3. Russian armored vehicles in place in Moscow.
4. Russian tanks moving into positions in Rostov earlier today.
5. Another view of same vid ^, showing other armored vehicles along with the tanks at the Russian Southern Military District Headquarters building in Rostov.
June 23, 2023
"The owner of the Wagner private military contractor made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet on Friday, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia's defense minister. The security services reacted immediately by calling for the arrest of Yevgeny Prigozhin and opening a criminal investigation.
In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin was taking the threat, security was heightened in Moscow and in Rostov-on-Don, which is home to the Russian military headquarters for the southern region and also oversees the fighting in Ukraine.
While the outcome of the confrontation was still unclear, it appeared likely to further hinder Moscow's war effort as Kyiv's forces were probing Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive.
Prigozhin claimed early Saturday that his forces had crossed into Russia from Ukraine and had reached Rostov, saying they faced no resistance from young conscripts at checkpoints and that his forces "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."
He claimed that the chief of the General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, scrambled warplanes to strike Wagner's convoys, which were driving alongside ordinary vehicles.
Despite Prigozhin's statements that Wagner convoys had entered Rostov-on-Don, there was no confirmation of that yet on Russian social networks. Videos showed heavy trucks blocking highways leading to the city, long convoys of National Guard trucks were seen on a road outside Rostov-on-Don and armored vehicles were roaming the streets.
Prigozhin said Wagner field camps in Ukraine were struck by rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery fire on orders from Gerasimov following a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, at which they decided to destroy Wagner.
The Wagner forces have played a crucial role in Russia's war in Ukraine, succeeding in taking the city where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place, Bakhmut. But Prigozhin has increasingly criticized Russia's military brass, accusing it of incompetence and of starving his troops of weapons and ammunition.
Prigozhin said late Friday his troops would punish Shoigu in an armed rebellion and urged the army not to offer resistance. "This is not a military coup, but a march of justice," Prigozhin declared.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which is part of the Federal Security Services, or FSB, has charged him with calling for an armed rebellion, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
The FSB urged Wagner's contract soldiers to arrest Prigozhin and refuse to follow his "criminal and treacherous orders." It called his statements a "stab in the back to Russian troops" and said they amounted to fomenting an armed conflict in Russia.
President Vladimir Putin has been informed about the situation and "all the necessary measures were being taken," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said."
In other words, no one panic, there is no panic...
Source
Vid: Allegedly the first video of armed confrontation between Wagner fighters/forces and units from the Russian Ministry of Defense. Location not given.
2. Russian troops being trucked into Moscow earlier tonight.
3. Russian armored vehicles in place in Moscow.
4. Russian tanks moving into positions in Rostov earlier today.
5. Another view of same vid ^, showing other armored vehicles along with the tanks at the Russian Southern Military District Headquarters building in Rostov.
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Kraine earlier this week?
