In a significant development in Russia, Wagner, a private military company (PMC), has besieged the Southern Military District headquarters in Rostov-on-Don.
This was confirmed by Russian state-owned media on Saturday and corroborated by images disseminated by TASS.
Local authorities, reacting to this development, have issued a directive to residents to stay indoors and away from the area, confirming that the forces present are indeed Wagner troops.
The order came from the region’s governor, affirming, “the military forces belonged to Wagner.”
The owner of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was unambiguous in his statement on Saturday about his group’s actions: “As of now, we’ve crossed the state borders in all areas,” Prigozhin stated, according to Newsweek. “Border guards came towards us and hugged our fighters. Now, we’re entering Rostov. Units of the Ministry of Defense, in fact, the conscripts who were thrown to block our path, moved away.”
Prigozhin has previously claimed that Russia’s Ministry of Defense attacked his troops in Ukraine.
He asserted that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu lied to President Putin about the situation with Ukraine in February 2022, instigating the invasion of Ukraine.
Prigozhin stated, “The war was needed so that a handful of scumbags could have a blast and get PR attention showing how strong the army is. The war was needed not in order to return the Russian citizens to our bosom and not in order to ‘demilitarize and denazify Ukraine’.”
Further stoking the flames, Prigozhin claimed via his Telegram channel that Russian soldiers attacked his own forces: “A missile attack was carried out on a PMC Wagner base,” the message read. “There are many casualties. According to the information of the fighters who are witnesses, the attack was carried out from a rear direction – that is, it was carried out by soldiers of the Russian Ministry of Defense.”
With a force of 25,000 men, Prigozhin has declared his intent to address the disarray within Russia. “The evil that the military leadership of the country brings forward must be stopped. They have forgotten the word justice, and we will return it,” he said in an audio recording. “Anyone attempting resistance will be considered a threat and immediately destroyed. This includes all the checkpoints on our path and any aircraft above our heads.”
In response to Prigozhin’s actions, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) issued an arrest warrant, condemning his actions: “Prigozhin’s statements and actions are in fact calls for the start of an armed civil conflict on the territory of the Russian Federation and are a stab in the back of Russian servicemen fighting pro-fascist Ukrainian forces. We call on PMC fighters not to make irreparable mistakes, to stop any forceful actions against the Russian people, not to carry out Prigozhin’s criminal and treacherous orders, and to take measures to detain him.”
Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev, amidst the unfolding crisis, urged Wagner forces to prevent a “real civil war” from breaking out and to “come back to your senses.” These developments signal a potential internal power struggle within Russia’s government, with implications that could extend beyond Russia’s borders.
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