Wagner, the head of the paramilitary group, called on Saturday for his troops to halt their march toward Moscow, staging a spectacular about-face against Vladimir Putin’s authority as he warned of the risk of “civil war.” East of its territory.
To stop the flow of “Russian blood”, “our columns are returning, we are going in the opposite direction to our return to the camps”, announced a volatile Evgeny Prigozhin after staging an unprecedented coup against the Kremlin on Friday evening. Russian people”.
His forces closed in on Saturday, less than 400km from the capital, after claiming to have captured the Russian army’s headquarters in Rostov (in the west), Ukraine’s nerve centre.
Facing the biggest challenge since coming to power in late 1999, President Putin condemned “treason” and warned against “civil war”. The Kremlin urged Western countries not to try to “use Russia’s internal situation to achieve their Russophobic goals”. “All objectives of the special military operation (in Ukraine) will be achieved,” the Foreign Ministry said.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Wagner’s rebellion showed that “the Russian leadership has no control over anything.” “The Kremlin man is obviously very scared and hiding somewhere,” he said.
His army said on Saturday it was “advancing in all directions”, where it said it had launched new offensives.
The advance of Wagner’s troops in Russia led the authorities to take exceptional security measures.
Moscow’s mayor called on residents to limit travel in the city, describing the situation as “difficult” and declaring Monday a non-working day. “I read the news this morning and I was very surprised. I don’t know how to react,” Elena, a 35-year-old Muscovite, told AFP.
The Russian region of Kaluga, the regional capital 180 km south of Moscow, has introduced travel restrictions in response to the insurgency.
Since the mutiny of the Wagner group was announced on Friday night, their forces have been seen in three Russian regions: Rostov, Voronezh and Lipetsk.
“Potential Impact”
From Washington to Brussels to Paris, all Western presidents are closely monitoring the development of the situation in Russia. US President Joe Biden on Saturday met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and the heads of the German and British governments, Olaf Scholes and Rishi Sunak.
During this conversation, the French head of state mentioned the “possible impact” of this plot on the war in Ukraine.
A close ally of Belarusian President Vladimir Putin, for his part, said he had received from Wagner’s boss a halt to troop movements of the paramilitary group in Russia.
“Evgeny Prigozhin accepted the proposal of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to stop the movement of armed men of the Wagner society and measures to defuse tensions,” indicated Paul Pervoko, the unofficial Telegram channel of the Belarusian president.
According to the “Rybar” channel, Chechen brigades were sent by Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman of Chechnya, to quell the rebellion in “tense areas” in Russia on the outskirts of Rostov. AFP could not independently verify this information.
Wagner Group Rebellion in Russia: Belarusian President Says Talks with Prigogine to “Stop Movements” by Wagner (Live)
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