The Russian Town at the Epicentre of Wagner’s Revolt
Fighters from the Wagner paramilitary group took positions at city hall in Rostov-on-Don, turning the once-sleepy city near the border with Ukraine into an epicentre of the revolt against Moscow.
Early Saturday morning, fighters from the Wagner paramilitary group entered Rostov-on-Don, taking positions at city hall and turning the once sleepy city near the border with Ukraine into an epicentre of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s revolt against Moscow’s handling of the war in Ukraine.
By the end of the day, after Prigozhin said he would turn his troops around following an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin negotiated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, there was great relief in the city.
Locals gave high-fives, hugged and thanked the departing Wagner fighters, according to videos posted on official Russian state media channels late Saturday. Rostov residents chanted: “Wagner! Wagner! Wagner!” while the troops were packing up, according to footage on social media channels.
Rostov, home to Russia’s southern military command, was the first city to be taken over by the fighters, followed by Voronezh, another city further north, where a massive explosion ripped through an oil depot on Saturday afternoon.
The Wagner chief said earlier Saturday his troops would remain in charge of Rostov, a city of more than one million residents – effectively holding it hostage until the minister of defence, Sergei Shoigu, and the head of the armed forces, General Valery Gerasimov, come to meet him. “We are saving Russia,” he said, a day after accusing them of launching air strikes on his troops and leading the country into a disastrous war.
Meanwhile, Putin – once Prigozhin’s mentor – ordered Russian army units to put down the revolt in a televised address to the nation.
By midday, some residents remained in their homes in Rostov, fearing a battle was imminent. Authorities urged people to stay in the city. Local media posted photos of long lines outside grocery stores, and reported that many were buying up food products in anticipation of disruptions to supply.
Others were photographing themselves next to the military hardware in the streets and with the masked fighters, who wore a motley assortment of military gear and white bands or duct tape on their left arms. Locals distributed snacks and water to Wagner troops in Rostov. Some residents were cheering them on against what some described as endemic corruption at every level of Russian society.
“We hope you get your justice guys,” one resident shouted to Wagner fighters in footage posted online. “Good luck!”
The uprising is the culmination of a long-running feud between Russia’s defence ministry and Wagner, which has gained a reputation for ferocity on the battlefield and spearheaded the capture of Bakhmut in May, the only recent Russian victory in Ukraine.
Prigozhin blames Shoigu in particular for refusing to support Wagner and starving it of artillery shells and small arms ammunition, and on Friday he accused the defence ministry of shelling a Wagner encampment in occupied Ukrainian territory.
“How many people have died heroically...but the defence ministry doesn’t support them or us; We are here for justice,” one masked Wagner fighter told residents, according to footage from Rostov. “The defence ministry has been acting like they work, but if they actually worked we would already be in Kyiv.” Another fighter said they hadn’t come out against Putin himself, but that they wanted to change the country’s military leadership.
“We’re defending our homeland and our government and we’re putting our hope in the Commander in Chief Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin that he’ll come and hear us out,” he said.
Photographs from Rostov showed a column of Russian national guard troops trying to get into the city. Residents said that no fighting had yet taken place, but some said they heard gunfire Saturday afternoon. Some posted footage showing people running from the scene.
A user of Russian social media platform VK with the username Lena Barabash said she heard helicopters overhead all through the night into Saturday morning. She said she lives about 10 kilometres, or about 6.2 miles, outside of Rostov.
Earlier, she made a public comment on a Rostov local VK page, saying: “I wish for a peaceful sky and for our children to not see this war, I’m very scared for the kids.”
In front of banners for the local circus, Wagner fighters were handing out the unit’s flags with skulls on them, hoping to gain the support of the local residents, some of whom said they supported the armed men.
The war in Ukraine and Western sanctions have added to Russia’s long-term decline in living standards, particularly away from the main cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg. Prigozhin has occasionally attempted to capitalise on this by criticising some of Putin’s wealthy inner circle.
“All state officials steal, but (Wagner) has come out to put an end to it; keep at it, brothers!” video footage showed one man calling out to the masked fighters.
No Russian officials or public figures came out in support of Prigozhin’s revolt. In a post to Telegram, Rostov region governor Vasily Golubev backed Putin and echoed his earlier warnings about repeating events of 1917, when Russia descended into civil war.
“In Russia’s history there have been times when they tried to divide our society and fuel the flames of civil war,” Golubev said. “We can’t let this happen again. Rostov region is with the president!”
Some local institutions spoke out directly against the uprising, urging calm and citing the need to maintain solidarity at a time when Russia was mired in its war in Ukraine, the price Russia has paid in Ukraine and the need to avoid internal conflict.
“Guys, Wagner, we don’t need blood! We are one people and we are fighting an outside enemy! We trust the Russian nation and our President!” the local football club, FK Rostov, posted in a statement to its website Saturday.
In outlying districts of the city, some residents said the atmosphere had been calm but tense. “We’re all waiting to see what the state is going to do,” said Elena, a psychologist living north of the city center. “Normal people like us can’t influence the situation, so we’re just trying to get on with our lives and hope for the best.”
The quick denouement by evening left some locals unsure what to do with all the hoarded food and toilet paper. Social media comments sarcastically lauded Wagner for providing a good tourist advertisement for Rostov.
The Wall Street Journal
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