After a day of tensions and calls to march on Moscow, the leader of the Wagner group, Evguéni Prigojine, announced on Saturday evening that he had ordered his troops to turn back, in order “to avoid bloodshed”. . A 4-question look back at a confusing day in Russia.
Will the troops of the Wagner armed group really turn around and give up entering Moscow? After a full day of tension and uncertainty about the situation in Russia, the unexpected reversal of the leader of the armed group, Evguéni Prijogine, took place shortly before 8 p.m. this Saturday, June 24.
In a new message posted on Telegram this Saturday, June 24 at the start of the evening, the leader of the armed group, Evguéni Prigojine, assured that he had accepted an offer of mediation from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and asked his troops to return to their camps. Yevgeny Prigojine claims to have obtained “guarantees for the safety of his men”, before “putting an end to the movements of Wagner’s armed men on Russian territory and taking other measures to defuse tensions”.
Yevgueni Prigojine spoke on the night of Friday June 23 to Saturday June 24. The Wagner leader has increased aggressive messages on his Telegram account along with accusations against Russian military leaders, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and influential General Sergei Surovikin.
Prigozhin assured in his numerous messages that Moscow had killed some of its servicemen by strikes on the Wagner camps. Russian military leaders have denied responsibility, but the leader of the paramilitary group said in the heart of his messages that some Russian military leaders needed to be arrested, before saying he would “go all the way”. He then carried out his threats by inviting his troops to enter Russian soil with the ulterior motive of overthrowing the Russian military command.
Within hours, Wagner’s troops, engaged in Ukraine for several months, turned around and directed their vehicles towards Rostov on the Don, an important metropolis and strategic node of the Russian army before convoys were seen further north. and towards the Russian capital. “This is not a military coup, it is justice that is on the march. Our actions in no way hinder the troops [engaged in the war in Ukraine],” he said in a statement. at the start of the day.
In addition to alleged losses attributed to Moscow, Prigozhin has repeatedly blamed those same generals in recent months for not providing sufficient military equipment to Wagner, also blaming the leaders for repeatedly delaying ongoing operations in Ukraine.
Before calling on his men to retreat to “avoid a bloodbath”, Evgueni Prigojine had assured earlier in the day that he had taken control of several Russian military sites. In addition to Rostov-on-Don, Wagner’s men were sighted in the Voronezh and Lipetsk regions. Their presence, attested by local authorities in Lipetsk, located about 400 kilometers from Moscow, showed mid-afternoon on Saturday that the paramilitaries were advancing towards the capital. In his statement at the start of the evening calling on his troops to retreat, Yevgeny Prigojine assured that his troops had advanced up to 200 kilometers from the capital.
The city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, seemed to be prepared for all eventualities. He announced, this Saturday afternoon, that Monday would be a holiday. A decision taken “in order to minimize the risks”. On Twitter, he also called on Muscovites during the day to “limit as much as possible” their movements in the city. According to Le Monde, the army has squared Moscow, controlling all entrances to the city and the axis linking Rostov-on-the-Don to Moscow has been blocked by the Russian authorities. A signal that finally led Yevgeny Prigojine to give up?
This escalation led to strong reactions from the Russian authorities. At the start of the day, the Russian prosecutor’s office announced the opening of an investigation against Evgueni Prigojine, for “armed mutiny” while General Sergei Surovikin called on Wagner’s troops to return to their barracks, the FSB even encouraging them to arrest Prigozhin. Then it was Vladimir Putin himself who spoke out, citing “betrayal” in a televised statement. “It is the betrayal of our people, of our fighters who are fighting on the front. It is a stab in the back of our people, of our country”, declared the Russian president before promising a “response implacable” against a “provocation”. What will happen now that Wagner’s troops are backing down and what will be the future of Yevgeny Prijogine and the Wagner group? What impact will this event and its upheavals have on the war in Ukraine? So many questions at the end of a day of confusion and tension in Russia…
