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Russian advance halted; Putin says those involved in mutiny will be punished
By Rob Harris
Madrid: The head of the Wagner force said on Saturday he has ordered his mercenaries to halt their march on Moscow and retreat to their field camps in Ukraine to avoid shedding Russian blood.
The announcement from Yevgeny Prigozhin appeared to defuse a growing crisis. Moscow had braced for the arrival of the private army led by the rebellious commander. And President Vladimir Putin had vowed he would face harsh consequences.
Prigozhin said that while his men are just 200 kilometres from Moscow, he decided to turn them back to avoid “shedding Russian blood.”
He didn’t say whether the Kremlin has responded to his demand to oust Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.
The announcement follows a statement from the office of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko saying that he had negotiated a deal with Prigozhin after previously discussing the issue with Putin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a televised addressCredit: Reuters
Earlier on Saturday, Putin said the mutiny amounted to “a deadly threat to our statehood” and vowed “tough actions” in response. “All those who prepared the rebellion will suffer inevitable punishment. The armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders,” Putin said.
He called Prigozhin’s actions, without referring to the owner of the Wagner private military company by name, “a betrayal” and “a treason”. He urged “those who are being dragged into this crime not to make a fatal and tragic, unique mistake, to make the only right choice – to stop participating in criminal acts”.
Putin condemned the rebellion at a time when Russia was “fighting the toughest battle for its future” with its war in Ukraine. “The entire military, economic and information machine of the West is waged against us,” Putin said.
“This battle, when the fate of our people is being decided, requires the unification of all forces, unity, consolidation and responsibility.” An armed rebellion at a time like this is “a blow to Russia, to its people”, the president said.
Russian law enforcement officers stand guard outside PMC Wagner Centre in Saint Petersburg, Russia.Credit: Reuters
“Those who plotted and organised an armed rebellion, who raised arms against his comrades-in-arms, betrayed Russia. And they will answer for it,” he said.
It is Russia’s first armed insurrection since the Chechen wars decades ago, and Prigozhin responded to the president’s address by saying he and his fighters would not turn themselves in.
“The president makes a deep mistake when he talks about treason. We are patriots of our motherland, we fought and are fighting for it,” Prigozhin said in an audio message.
“Nobody is going to turn themselves in and confess at the order of the president, the FSB (security service) or anyone else. Because we don’t want the country to continue to live any longer in corruption, deceit and bureaucracy.”
Prigozhin had earlier posted a video saying he was at the headquarters of the Southern Military District, which is in Rostov-on-Don. There he demanded Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, to come and meet him.
“We have arrived here, we want to receive the chief of the general staff and Shoigu,” Prigozhin said on the video. “Unless they come, we’ll be here, we’ll blockade the city of Rostov and head for Moscow.”
British defence intelligence said on Saturday morning (UK time) that Wagner units were moving north through Vorenezh Oblast and “almost certainly” aiming to get to Moscow.
“With very limited evidence of fighting between Wagner and Russian security forces, some have likely remained passive, acquiescing to Wagner,” an official said.
Western officials said the loyalty of Russia’s security forces, and especially that of the Russian National Guard, over the next day would be key to how the crisis plays out, saying it represented the “most significant challenge” to the Russian state in recent times.
Prigozhin had earlier announced that his fighters had crossed the border into Russia from Ukraine and were prepared to go “all the way” against Moscow’s military, hours after the Kremlin accused him of armed mutiny.
As head of the mercenary group that has been fighting Ukrainian troops, Prigozhin is facing charges of inciting mutiny after accusing the Russian military of launching a deadly strike on his troops. He said in a half-hour tirade on social media that the “evil” in the military leadership must be stopped, and he vowed to “march for justice”.
In response, Russian generals accused Prigozhin of trying to mount a coup against Putin, as the long-running feud between the Wagner founder and the Russian military escalated into an open confrontation.
The Russian Ministry of Defence has denied the strike and demanded that Prigozhin halts “illegal actions”, while the prosecutor-general’s office confirmed Prigozhin had been charged with “organising an armed uprising”, which carries a sentence of 12 to 20 years in prison. It said his “actions will receive appropriate legal assessment”.
In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin was taking Prigozhin’s threat, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said anti-terrorist measures were being taken in the Russian capital, including additional checks on roads, to reinforce security.
Security was heightened in government buildings, transport facilities and other key locations 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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov (left) and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.Credit: AP
Prigozhin said his forces had entered Rostov with no resistance from young conscripts at checkpoints, adding that his forces “aren’t fighting against children”. The governor of the Rostov region sent a message to residents to stay indoors.
The Wagner chief said his fighters had also shot down a Russian helicopter that had been firing upon them. However, his claims could not be independently verified.
“But we will destroy anyone who stands in our way,” he said. “We are moving forward and will go until the end.”
He said his actions were not a military coup. But in a frenzied series of audio messages, in which the sound of his voice sometimes varied and could not be independently verified, he appeared to suggest that his 25,000-strong militia was en route to oust the leadership of the defence ministry in Moscow.
The White House said Joe Biden had been briefed on the chaotic situation in Russia, with US officials describing it as “serious”. A White House National Security Council spokesman said: “We are monitoring the situation and will be consulting with allies and partners on these developments.”
A US official told CNN that this crisis was “real” but the Pentagon and White House were waiting to see how it developed.
Kyiv was also closely tracking developments. Its armed forces posted on Twitter: “We are watching.”
Asked on Saturday morning whether Russia was heading towards a civil war, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Russia should withdraw from Ukraine immediately.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video the “evil” in the Russian military must be stopped.Credit: AP
“My view is very clear – that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is illegal, is a breach of international law, shows no respect for the sovereignty of a democratic nation, and Russia should withdraw from this action,” Albanese said.
The standoff, many of the details of which remained unclear, looked like the biggest domestic crisis Putin has faced since he sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in February last year.
Earlier, Prigozhin said Russian generals had concocted false pretences to trick Putin into invading Ukraine, and he said that Moscow could have avoided the war entirely. The notorious strongman, who has known Putin since their days in St Petersburg in the early 1990s, is widely believed by analysts to have the Russian president’s approval for his attacks on the army.
An armoured personnel carrier is seen next to a shopping mall in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.Credit: Reuters
In an audio message posted to Telegram, Prigozhin said “huge numbers” of his fighters had been killed in a strike by the Russian military on a Wagner camp. He published a video that he claims shows the aftermath of the rocket attack in the southern Rostov region.
“Those who killed our lads, and tens of thousands of lives of Russian soldiers [in the war in Ukraine], will be punished,” he said.
“I ask you not to resist. Anyone who does will be considered a threat and destroyed. That goes for any checkpoints and aviation on our way. Presidential power, the government, the police and Russian guard will work as usual. This is not a military coup but a march of justice. Our actions do not interfere with the troops in any way.”
He claimed that Russia had faced no immediate threat from Ukraine when Putin began his full-scale invasion last year and accused the army’s top brass of deceiving the Russian president for their own personal gain.
The rant, posted on social media on Friday evening (UK time), is the latest instalment of Prigozhin’s long-running spat with Shoigu, who he has accused of sabotaging the war effort together with Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s general staff.
“There was nothing out of the ordinary on February 24,” Prigozhin said, referring to the day Putin ordered the invasion.
“The defence ministry is trying to deceive the president and society by saying Ukraine was going mad with aggression and was planning to attack us together with the whole NATO bloc.
“For some reason, this bunch of idiots thought they were so smart-arsed that nobody would understand what they were up to or stop them on their way to Kyiv.”
Russian state media reported that the FSB, Russia’s security services, had opened a criminal case against Prigozhin, accusing him of “calling for an armed rebellion”.
A bird flies over the building of the Russian Defence Ministry with anti-aircraft artillery systems atop.Credit: AP
The defence ministry said in a statement that “all reports by Prigozhin spread on social media” of Russian strikes on Wagner camps were “not true and are an information provocation”.
The Wagner Group has been fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine but, in recent months, Prigozhin has become increasingly vocal in his criticism of Russia’s military leadership. He said in the recording that he had 25,000 men under arms but also considers the entire army, and the entire Russian society, his strategic reserve.
Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s Ukraine campaign, released a video address ordering the mercenaries to remain loyal to Putin.
“I urge you to stop,” said Surovikin, who was previously reported to be close to Prigozhin. “The enemy is just waiting for the internal political situation to worsen in our country.”
with AP, Reuters
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