Wagner Mercenary Group Turns On Putin, Claims Will March on Moscow (Updates)
Situation is very fluid and uncertain, with a lot of disinformation. We will provide updates as facts are verified.
In a dramatic turn of events, head of the Russian mercenary Wagner group Yevgeny Prigozhin has launched a coup against the Kremlin, Russian media reports on late Friday confirm.
Prigozhin, a one-time Putin confidant, claimed the backing of 25,000 fighters as he moved his battle-hardened forces away from the Ukrainian front line and into Russia. Prigozhin-led Wagner mercenary forces have taken control of the army headquarters in southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, news reports suggest.
Yevgeny Prigozhin speaking once again from the Southern Military District Headquarters in the City of Rostov-on-Don, stating that Wagner has Occupied all of the Military Installations across the City including the Airfield to insure that the Russian Air Force is Attacking the… pic.twitter.com/S3krmZqEg6
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 24, 2023
Some “Wagner units are moving north through Voronezh Oblast, almost certainly aiming to get to Moscow,” The Irish Times newspaper reported citing British intelligence.
Prigozhin also made a similar claim. “Right now we have crossed all the border points,” The Wagner chief declared as he entered into Russian territory on Friday. “Now we are entering Rostov. (…) “If anyone gets in our way, we will destroy everything … We extend our hand to everyone. We move forward, we are going all the way,” he added.
Unconfirmed reports on social media show Russian armed forces hitting advancing Wagner Group columns with artillery and air strikes.
The M-4 "Don" is a major expressway that links Moscow, Voronezh, Rostov-on-Don. This is the major l route, I presume, by which Prigozhin’s forces will attempt to move on Moscow, if they are strong enough. This morning a Wagner convoy was attacked on the M-4. pic.twitter.com/wDLRy3IO8H
— Mike (@Doranimated) June 24, 2023
Putin address nation, vows to quell “mutiny”
Earlier on Saturday, President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation, denouncing the “mutiny” and vowing to put down the revolt.
In a recorded address, Vladimir Putin says the Wagner group rebellion is a 'criminal adventuristic campaign' and ‘equivalent to armed mutiny.’
Looks like there really is a rebellion within Russia against Putin. #RussiaIsCollapsing #Prigozhin #Wagner pic.twitter.com/9TKPUTQo9A— Paul Golding (@GoldingBF) June 24, 2023
The FSB, Russia’s domestic intelligence agency, opened a criminal case against Prigozhin, accusing him of leading an “armed rebellion” inside Russia. “A criminal case over charges of organization of armed mutiny was initiated against Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin after his Telegram channel published his claims that the Russian Defense Ministry hit PMC units with airstrikes and his calls for supporters to rise against the national government,” the Russian state-run news agency TASS reported.
The Armed Forces of russian federation launched a missile strike at the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the Rostov Region. Previously, it was captured by the Wagner PMC.#Prigozhin #RussiaIsCollapsing pic.twitter.com/NwX9zctJbU
— Ukraine Front Lines (@EuromaidanPR) June 24, 2023
Kadyrov’s Chechen fighters to take on Wagner Group
The Kremlin appears to have tasked Ramzan Kadyrov’s Chechen fighters to quell the rebellion. “According to Kadyrov, Chechen members of the Defense Ministry and the National Guard have already headed out to the regions where tensions are high,” Russian state-own broadcaster RT reported.
🚨COUP UPDATES: Putin Reportedly Leaves Moscow | Machine Gun Positions Around Moscow | Wagner Convoy Heads to Moscow
As the coup continues, here's the latest updates from our various sources live on the ongoing Twitter Space:
– Worries of the Russian Nuclear Warheads moved to… pic.twitter.com/kOI0r1LLFF
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) June 24, 2023
Ukraine steps up counteroffensive
With Russia in disarray, Ukrainian armed forces stepped up their counteroffensive on Saturday. “Taking advantage of Prigozhin’s provocation to disrupt the situation, the Kiev regime is concentrating units of the 35th and the 36th marine brigades of the AFU in Bakhmut tactical direction at the initial line for offensive actions,” Russia’s Ministry of Defense said in statement on Telegram.
Update: Wagner troops halt march on Moscow
According to reports on Saturday afternoon, Prigozhin ordered his mercenary troops to stop their advance on Moscow. “The head of the Wagner force said Saturday he has ordered his mercenaries to halt their march on Moscow and retreat to their field camps in Ukraine to avoid shedding Russian blood,” the Associated Press reported.
UPDATE: Prigozhin to Belarus?
Is it over?
BREAKING: The criminal case against Prigozhin will be dropped and he will move to Belarus, Kremlin says – TASS
— Faytuks News Δ (@Faytuks) June 24, 2023
NY Times reports:
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, told reporters that under an agreement brokered by Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, Mr. Prigozhin would go to Belarus and the criminal case opened against him for organizing an armed insurrection would be dropped.
The Wagner fighters who didn’t participate in the uprising would be given the option of signing Russian Defense Ministry contracts, Mr. Peskov said, and the rest would avoid prosecution, considering their “heroic deeds on the front.”
“There was a higher goal — to avoid bloodshed, to avoid an internal confrontation, to avoid clashes with unpredictable consequences,” Mr. Peskov said. “It was in the name of these goals that Lukashenko’s mediation efforts were realized, and President Putin made the corresponding decisions.”In an audio statement earlier in the evening, Mr. Prigozhin announced that his troops marching toward Moscow would turn around. His forces, which had seized the Southern Military District headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, also appeared to be leaving in footage shared on social media.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Realizing the war of propaganda is huge, rumors that Chechen fighters have joined the Wagner group or just allowing them to pass.
Video circulating showing Chechen troops entering Rostov, except Wagner Group already on the road to Moscow… anyone’s guess.
I’m guessing disinformation.
Wagner troops withdrawing from Ukraine and into Russia is what you would expect to see before a major nuclear attack on Ukraine.
Great- a nuclear war with Biden at the helm.
This will go well.
Who is this “everyone” you speak of? 🙄 And why exactly is troop movement, specifically Wagner troops any kind of indication a nukes gonna go off? Asking for a friend 🤔🙄
This is not my information, but I would imagine the logic was that they could be getting out of the way of the blast fallout from a nuclear detonation.
There were reports (rumors?) that Wagner forces had disarmed some Chechens
I wonder if Putin ever watched “Braveheart?”
Expect Azerbaijan to attack Armenia any day now. Russian power is all that has kept the small Christian country from being invaded by her more powerful Muslim neighbor.
As the leader of the Wagner Group, an attack by Russia that killed 2,000 men in Ukraine of Russia’s best fighting force (reported as claimed in the NY Post) would not be a good move. Putin supporting such an attack attack seems rather odd. Something does not add up.
If Ukraine’s offensive can not now make good progress in the face of this surprising turn of events, that would seem to be rather good evidence that their long term prospects are poor and that we are being fed BS by our own government.
The Ukrainian offensive was stalled not based on local Russian manpower so much as on assaulting prepared defensive works. Minefields, obstacles, tank traps, local air superiority and a huge imbalance in artillery pre registered on known coordinates along the likely avenues of advance. The ‘book’ says an attacker must outnumber the defender by 3/1 which actually has held up historically. The defender is behind a fortified position with automatic weapons and thr attacker gotta cross open ground, through a hail of fire and artillery, negotiate obsticles, avoid being ‘funneled’ into a specific kill zone all while maintaining unit cohesion required to continue the advance. I’d much rather be the defender in that scenario.
Combined arms maneuver warfare works very well in more open terrain like Desert Storm, 2nd Gulf war or even Israel’s six day war. In all of these the winners had local air superiority and a more cohesive force of disciplined units who had trained for years. Ukraine lacks those elements. They are trying to use maneuver concepts v a static, fortified front. One key doctrine of maneuver warfare is to bypass fixed positions not to hit them head on. The point is to have your ground forces moving forward while your Air Assets/artillery pound fixed sites. It’s a little like Desert Storm v WWI except the defenders have air superiority and a decisive advantage in artillery.
No sensible person has claimed Ukraine will defeat Russia in a shooting match. Only the white house and media are floating nonsense like that.
The big difference is between Ukraine winning the war and not losing it. Not losing it. A negotiated peace. UKR won’t give up on the Don river basin and will never get Crimea back.
The Rus really want to turn everything east of the Dnieper into a rubble field and then loose the “Chechen” murder squads to roam around murdering and raping civilians – just as was done in Chechnya.
And yeah, Blank Check Biden’s a idiot.
Apparently, recent pentagon ‘accounting errors’ can purchase a lot of mutineers.
I think the head of the Wagner Group just purchased himself a ticket to go see the Titanic
Nah, Priggy is more stridently anti-west and anti-Ukraine than Putin.
Money talks, lots of money shouts. Never forget, money is agnostic and enough of it will make strange bedfellows
As with most things, it will take 48 hours before we see a dim form take shape beyond the blizzard of lies and exaggerations, a year before we know vaguely what happened, and ten years before the press admits what really went on and how they knew it all along and all their stories to the contrary don’t matter and look at that squirrel!
“No, don’t look at the squirrels. Damn, now we gotta move again.” Rick Sanchez.
What comes around, goes around
There were reports that Putin left Moscow, heading North, then landed and either switched planes or change call signs
Whether total disinfo and prep for nuclear detonations or civil war in Russia, I don’t see this ending well.
Smells like the Beer Hall Putsch.
I was surprised to see Priggy was still alive this morning. lol.
The international response to fast-moving events centered on the Wagner rebellion in Russia is coming in…
“Secretary of State Tony Blinken held a secure conference call this morning with several Western foreign ministers to consult about the escalating situation in Russia,” Axios is reporting based on its sources. The call is being described as an urgent consultation of G-7 ministers.
‘Marching on Moscow’ doesn’t tend to have end well. Last guy who tried it had to hole up in a bunker and shoot himself
All of this mess was created by Putin. The monster has turned on Dr. FrankenPutin
Putin compared it to 1917.
Putin’s creature has turned on him. Prigozhin must think he’s got enough support in the Kremlin to pull this off.
I think he was a cornered rat. But he’s something of a hero, because he was the only military commander who actually advanced the front.
Shit just got real.
From what I heard over the night. Wagner was not geting much support, in fact some Wagner troops are refusing to join in.
But listening to Scott Ritter on Judge Napalatono, the US or UK may have been planning this. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t ( where is Baronesse Vicky Nuland Harkonen? Is she handing out coookies? ), but if Putin thinks that is the case, that can be very scary. Very scary.
You are probably about as close to the truth as any.
Lots of bad blood between Prig and Shoigu with Putin in the middle. Putin’s Chef has turned on him and maybe Putin’s Brain, Alexander Dugin could follow him. Mercenaries are hard to control once they feel slighted. Belarus and the ‘stans’ are probably watching closely. .
Right after The Pentagon “found” over $6,000,000,000 in an “accounting error” Wagner is shelled by Moscow then about faces and heads the other way. Sounds like they got a better offer from either The US or Ukraine, Russia heard about it and tried a preemptive strike which failed and now has a giant cluster on its hands which is the problem with hiring mercenaries.
Wagner may soon find their march go up in a mushroom.
Money talks and BS walks. I would be very surprised if we had not offered substantial cash/benefits, tacit backing and the implied promise of an airlift out to a bolt hole for Prigozhin to do this.
He has telegraphed his unhappiness with Russian military planning and the level of support for his forces for many months. Lots of ‘his’ troops are convicts conscripted directly from Russian prisons whom he has given an opportunity and a sense of purpose. These guys don’t have much reason to love Putin, his military or his govt so convincing these guys they were ‘betrayed’ by Russia to motivate them to turn on the govt and march on Moscow seems like a pretty easy sell. Especially if he can dangle potential US/UK sweeteners/promises into the mix.
Hopefully our ‘brilliant’ top men at State and CIA who cooked up the scheme have factored in the potential for a destabilized Russia with Putin firing off nukes in a fit of anger/fear or nukes and other WMD seized by who knows who in the chaos and sold off to even more unsavory folks or a set of warlords taking over Russia with an even harder Nationalist drift and a ready made ‘other’ in the US and NATO to (accurately) blame all this on.
I am totes sure our brilliant team in DC wouldn’t have generated this chaos through a series of arrogant and overconfident missteps which then causes events to spin out of their control. /S
William Spaniel has had to best coverage of the war and strategies since the beginning, including today’s update.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdeQOfRayoM
Very interesting. One wonders about the morale of 19 year old Russian conscripts sitting in Ukraine and hearing this news.
Sounds like the Putsch is over.
Well that didn’t last long.
NATO is airlifting popcorn into the Ukraine, and it is impossible to get a Dominos delivery along the BW Parkway, tells me all that I need to know. wagner was just waiting for the submersible op to go TU as a distraction.
From my usual conspiratorial (i.e. spoiler) sites, all of this has been in the offing in recent time. There has been an uptick in military movements in the US and unusual appearances of National Guard, military forces and emergencies services around the country… like the National Guard in upscale area of Los Angeles. Add to that increased activities around our North Dakota missile sites and many law enforcement areas. Blinkin (and nod) having major coms with Europe.
I suspect we have gotten into the minds and wallets of Russian admin and forces…. which appears to be the case in Ukraine with Wagner.
The 2020 election was easy pickings for the likes of CIA , NSA, DOD and FBI when they can turn whole countries and now begin to destabilize Russia. If (?!) the US has underwritten the mercs to turn on Russia with an “Invasion:, then “regime change” may happen… all over the place.
I was rummaging through YouTube and came upon discussions about the echos of 1914. One historian was so unwoke as to remind the others and the crowd of 2014 US backed coup. That coup is not like what this may be.
https://twitter.com/Travis_in_Flint/status/1672673086544437248
Sorry I should have summed up. It looks like some in the US knew ahead of tiome. Mind you it’s a rumor.
And it’s over. Did our check bounce? Or was this all we paid for?
Dear Nancy Pelosi, et al,
THIS is what an armed rebellion looks like, you vapid c*nt.
Sincerely,
America
Lol
https://twitter.com/papitrumpo/status/1672714831097462785/mediaviewer
I think the Wagner revolt lasted just long enough until they got payment in full enough for the key guys to be filthy rich for the rest of their lives. Thinking of the Braveheart scene showing the fate of the Scottish nobles after King Edward buys their betrayal of Wallace).
And just like that everyone loves Wagner 😂😂
It would be funny if it wasn’t so laughable 😂