🔴 Live: Wagner group withdraws from seized military base after rebellion U-turn
Russian paramilitary Wagner group pulled its fighters from Rostov-on-Don, where they had seized the military headquarters, the regional governor said on Sunday. Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin halted his troops’ advance on Moscow late Saturday and said he would leave for Belarus to avoid facing charges. Read our blog to see how the day’s events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
Issued on: 25/06/2023 – 07:49
Modified: 25/06/2023 – 08:53
4 min
Fighters of Wagner private mercenary group pull out of the headquarters of the Southern Military District to return to base, in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023.02:44
Fighters of Wagner private mercenary group pull out of the headquarters of the Southern Military District to return to base, in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023. © Reuters
Text by:
FRANCE 24
Follow
|
Video by:
Yinka OYETADE
8:40am: Kyiv troops not able to benefit from Wagner rebellion
Ukrainian troops have not been able to take advantage of the Wagner troops’ rebellion in Russia “because the Wagner troops who left for Russia were not on the front lines anymore and had been pulled back from the battle for Bakhmut”, says FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg from Kyiv.
03:10
8:20am: US spy agencies detected signs of Russia revolt days prior, media reveal
US spy agencies picked up signs days ago that mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was preparing to rise up against Russia’s defence establishment, US media reported on Saturday.
Intelligence officials conducted briefings at the White House, the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill about the potential for unrest in nuclear-armed Russia a full day before it unfolded, the Washington Post and New York Times reported.
Spy agencies first began tracking indications that Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenary force intended to move against the Russian military leadership in mid-June, the Post said. The Times said the information was both solid and alarming by mid-week, leading to the flurry of briefings.
US spy agencies believe that Putin himself was informed that Prigozhin, once a close ally, was plotting his rebellion at least a day before it occurred, the Post reported.
02:33
8:05am: Russia’s Rostov-on-Don calm after Prigozhin departure
The situation around the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don was calm and street traffic resumed, RIA state news agency said on Sunday after Yevgeny Prigozhin and his mercenaries left the city.
In a video on the agency’s Telegram messaging app, which it said was taken in the city of Rostov-on-Don, a man was sweeping a street and cars were moving along another street.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Late on Saturday, Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, was seen leaving the district military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don after halting a rebellion against Russia’s military establishment.
7:20am: Chaos in Russia works in our advantage, Kyiv says
Chaos in Russia works to Kyiv’s advantage, Ukraine officials said on Saturday, but it remains to be seen whether President Volodymyr Zelensky and his army can capitalise on the disorder caused this weekend as mercenaries marched towards Moscow.
“Today the world saw that the masters of Russia do not control anything. Nothing at all. Just complete chaos,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address, urging Ukraine’s allies to use the moment and send more weapons to Kyiv.
The Prigozhin unrest, the biggest internal challenge to President Vladimir Putin as Russia’s paramount leader for 23 years, has spurred global security concerns and a frenzy of calls between Washington and its allies to coordinate actions.
“Any chaos behind the enemy lines works in our interests,” State-run Ukrinform news agency quoted Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba as saying on Saturday.
6:56am: Traffic restrictions still in place in Russia’s Moscow and Tula regions
Traffic restrictions remained on the M-4 “Don” major expressway in the Moscow and Tula regions on Sunday, the Federal Road Agency said on the Telegram messaging app.
“According to earlier decisions made in the regions, the restriction of traffic along the M-4 ‘Don’ (highway) in the Tula and Moscow regions remains in place,” the agency said.
Heavily armed Russian mercenaries who had advanced most of the way to Moscow on Saturday then halted their approach, de-escalating a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power, in a move their leader said would avoid bloodshed.
Key developments from Saturday, June 24:
The head of the Wagner group will go to Belarus and will not face charges after calling off his troops’ advance on Moscow, the Russian government said, easing the country’s most serious security crisis in decades.
The feud between Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and Russia’s military brass came to a crisis on Saturday, with Wagner forces capturing a key army headquarters in southern Russia and then heading north to threaten the capital.
Within hours of Prigozhin’s about-face, the Kremlin announced he would leave for Belarus and Russia would not prosecute him or Wagner members.
Daily newsletter
Receive essential international news every morning
Subscribe
It had been a dramatic day, with President Vladimir Putin warning against civil war, Moscow telling locals to stay off the streets and Kyiv revelling in the chaos engulfing its enemy.
The tide shifted suddenly when Prigozhin made the stunning announcement that his troops were “turning our columns around and going back to field camps” to avoid bloodshed in the Russian capital.
Prigozhin, who has feuded bitterly with Moscow’s military leadership even as his outfit led parts of Russia’s Ukraine offensive, said he understood the importance of the moment and did not want to “spill Russian blood”.
