Global Courant
President Vladimir Putin on Saturday vowed to punish organizers of an armed uprising in Russia after mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin led his troops from Ukraine to a key southern city.
Putin denounced the uprising as “a stab in the back”. It was the biggest threat to his leadership in more than two decades in power.
The private army led by Prigozhin appeared to control military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city 1,000 kilometers south of Moscow that conducts Russian offensive operations in Ukraine, the British Ministry of Defense said.
As fast-paced events unfolded in Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow suffers from “complete weakness” and that Kiev was protecting Europe from “the spread of Russian evil and chaos”.
In his speech, Putin called the actions of Prigozhin, whom he did not name, a “betrayal” and “betrayal”.
“All those who have prepared the uprising will inevitably be punished,” Putin said. “The armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders.”
Prigozhin said his fighters would not surrender because “we don’t want the country to live on in corruption, deceit and bureaucracy”.
“As for the betrayal of the motherland, the president is deeply mistaken. We are patriots of our fatherland,” he said in an audio message on his Telegram channel.
Prigozhin’s private military contractor known as Wagner has fought alongside Russian forces in Ukraine. His goals were not immediately clear, but the uprising marks an escalation in his battle with Russian military leaders, whom he accused of ruining the war in Ukraine and hindering his troops in the field.
“This is not a military coup, but a march of justice,” Prigozhin said.
Prigozhin confirmed on Saturday that he and his troops reached Rostov-on-Don after crossing the border into Ukraine.
He posted a video of himself at military headquarters in Rostov, claiming that his troops had taken control of the airport and other military facilities in the city. Other social media videos showed military vehicles, including tanks, on the streets.
Prigozhin said his troops met no resistance from young conscripts when they invaded Russia, saying his troops “don’t fight children”.
“But we will destroy anyone who gets in our way,” he said in one of a series of angry video and audio recordings posted to social media late Friday. “We’re moving forward and going to the end.”
The uprising comes at a time when Russia is “fighting the toughest battle for its future,” Putin said, as Western governments impose sanctions on Moscow and arm Ukraine.
“The entire military, economic and information machine of the West has been deployed against us,” Putin said.
Russian security services, including the Federal Security Service, or FSB, called for Prigozhin’s arrest after he announced an armed uprising late Friday.
To show how seriously the Kremlin took the threat, authorities declared a “counter-terrorist regime” in Moscow and the surrounding area, allowing limited freedoms and increasing security in the capital.
It was not immediately clear how Prigozhin was able to break into the southern Russian city or how many troops he had with him.
Prigozhin said he wanted to punish Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu after accusing Russian government forces of attacking Wagner’s field camps in Ukraine with rockets, helicopter gunships and artillery. He claimed that “a great number of our comrades were killed”.
Prigozhin said Wagner’s troops shot down a Russian military helicopter firing at a civilian convoy, but there was no independent confirmation of that.
He claimed that General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff, ordered the attacks after meeting with Shoigu where they decided to destroy Wagner.
The Ministry of Defense denied the attack on the Wagner camps.
Prigozhin said he had 25,000 troops under his command and urged the army not to resist.
After Putin’s speech, in which he did not mention concrete steps to suppress the uprising but rather called for unity, state media officials and personalities sought to reiterate their allegiance to the Kremlin and urged Prigozhin to withdraw.
Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the lower house of parliament, said lawmakers “stand for the consolidation of forces” and support Putin, adding that “Wagner fighters must make the only right choice: to be with their people, on the side of the law, to protect the security and future of the Motherland, to follow the orders of the Commander-in-Chief.”
State Department spokeswoman Maria Zakharova echoed Volodin’s sentiment, saying in a Telegram post that “we have one commander-in-chief. Not two, not three. One.”
Ramzan Kadyrov, the strong leader of the Chechnya region who used to side with Prigozhin in his criticism of the military, also expressed his full support for Putin’s “every word”.
“We have the commander-in-chief, elected by the people, who knows the situation down to the smallest detail better than any strategist and businessman,” Kadyrov said. “The mutiny must be suppressed.”
While the outcome of the engagement was still unclear, it seemed likely to further hinder Moscow’s war effort, as Kiev’s forces probed Russian defenses in the early stages of a counter-offensive. The dispute, especially if Prigozhin were victorious, could also affect Putin and his ability to maintain unity.
Wagner’s forces played a vital role in Ukraine by taking the eastern city of Bakhmut, an area where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place. But Prigozhin has increasingly criticized the military army, accusing it of incompetence and starving its troops with ammunition.
Zelenskyy took note of the rebellion in his Telegram channel, saying, “Anyone who chooses the path of evil destroys himself.”
“For a long time Russia has used propaganda to mask its weakness and the stupidity of its government. And now there is so much chaos that no lie can hide it,” he said. “Russia’s weakness is obvious. Complete weakness. And the longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries on our land, the more chaos, pain and trouble it will have for itself later.”
Prigozhin’s actions could have significant consequences for the war. Orysia Lutsevych, the head of the Ukraine Forum of the Chatham House think tank in London, said infighting between the defense ministry and Wagner will cause confusion and possible division among Russian troops.
“Russian forces in Ukraine can now very well operate in a vacuum, without clear military instructions and doubts about whom to obey and follow,” Lutsevych said. “This creates a unique and unprecedented military opportunity for the Ukrainian military.”
Heavy military trucks and armored vehicles were seen in several parts of central Moscow early Saturday, and soldiers with assault rifles were deployed outside the main Defense Ministry building. The area around the presidential administration near Red Square was blocked off, snarling traffic.
But even with the increased military presence, downtown bars and restaurants were packed with customers. At a club near the FSB headquarters, people danced in the street near the entrance.
Prigozhin, whose feud with the defense ministry goes back years, had refused to comply with a demand that his forces sign contracts with the ministry before July 1. He said on Friday he was ready for a compromise, but “they treacherously deceived us”.
Colonel General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, urged Wagner forces to stop any action against the army, as this would play into the hands of Russian enemies who are “waiting for the aggravation of our domestic political situation.”
In Washington, the Institute for the Study of War said that “the violent overthrow of Putin loyalists such as Shoigu and Gerasimov would irreparably damage the stability of Putin’s alleged hold on power.”
Speaking at the White House, National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said the administration is monitoring the situation and will consult with allies and partners on developments.
The leaders of European countries, including Italy and Poland, said they are closely monitoring developments, while Estonia, which borders Russia, stepped up border security.
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