In what was the most significant challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s two-decade rule in Russia, mercenary commander and head of Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin on Saturday, June 24, led an armed mutiny into the capital Moscow, before an abrupt reversal later in the day averted a full-blown insurgence.
The de-escalation came on the heels of the office of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announcing that he had negotiated a deal with Prigozhin in order to halt Wagner’s advance and take steps to ease the mounting tensions.
While announcing his decision to retreat, Prigozhin said although his men were merely 200 kilometres away from the Russian capital, he decided to halt his march to avoid “shedding Russian blood”.
Here are the top developments from a historic day in Russia:
Prigozhin, a convict-turned businessman, used to be one of the closest allies of Vladimir Putin. He founded Wagner in 2014, in order to assist Putin’s invasion of Crimea, and was involved in Russian ‘interventions’ across the world, especially in Africa and Syria.
Wagner has also been pivotal in Russia’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine, fighting side by side with Russian regulars. However, of late, there have been growing tensions between Prigozhin and the Russian military brass.
While Wagner’s mercenaries had played a crucial role in capturing the east Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, Prigozhin had grown increasingly critical of the military brass, accusing it of incompetence and starving his troops of munitions.
In a series of recordings released on social media, he claimed that Russian forces had attacked his troops, causing a number of casualties. He sai he wanted to punish Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for attacking Wagner field camps in Ukraine with rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery, and demnaded his ouster.
After capturing the city of Rostov-on-Don and setting off on a 1,100 km (680 mile) race to Moscow, by Saturday morning, the Wagner forces were already most of the way to the capital, having taken control of military facilities in the city of Voronezh, a southwestern city around 500 km away from Moscow.
Prigozhin referred to his campaign as a “march for justice”, and claimed to have over 25,000 soldiers at his disposal with many more loyal to him. “We didn’t kill a single person on our way,” Prigozhin said.
In an emergency televised address on Saturday, President Putin declared that an “armed mutiny” by the Wagner Group mercenary force was treason, and that anyone who had taken up arms against the Russian military would be punished.
Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev, the deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence agency, called Wagner’s move to capture Rostov-on-Don a ‘coup’.
Amidst the crisis, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin, in a statement, said “the situation is difficult, and a counter-terrorism regime has been declared in the Russian capital”.
The capital braced for the arrival of the Wagner forces by erecting checkpoints with armoured vehicles and troops on the city’s southern edge. Red Square was shut down, mass events were cancelled till July 1, Monday was declared non-working, and the mayor urged motorists to stay off some roads, and cautioned against trips around the city.
In an abrupt audio message on Saturday night, Prigozhin said the fighters would return to base because of the risk of blood being spilled.
A deal to halt further movement of Wagner fighters across Russia in return for guarantees of safety for the rebels was brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the leader’s office said.
However, there was no elaboratation on whether Prigozhin’s demands for the ouster of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu will be met. Kremline spokesperson Peskov said the issue could not have been discussed during the negotiations, which were conducted by the president of Belarus, and is the “exclusive prerogative of the commander in chief.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that the charges against Prigozhin for mounting an armed rebellion will be dropped and his men will not face prosecution. Those in the Wagner Group who did not take party in the uprising will be offered contracts by the Defence Ministry.
Despite Putin’s vow to punish those behind the rebellion, the spokesperson said that the President’s “highest goal” was “to avoid bloodshed and internal confrontation with unpredictable results”.
