2023-06-24 17:45:00
The leader of the paramilitary group Wagner called on his troops on Saturday to stop their march towards Moscow, operating a spectacular regarding-face following defying the authority of Vladimir Putin who had warned of the risk of “civil war”, while Kiev claimed advances to the east of its territory.
To prevent “Russian blood” from flowing, “our columns are turning around and we are going in the opposite direction to return to the camps”, declared the tempestuous Yevgeny Prigojine following launching an unprecedented coup once morest the Kremlin on Friday evening. to “liberate the Russian people”.
His troops approached on Saturday less than 400 km from the capital following having notably claimed the capture of the headquarters of the Russian army in Rostov (west), the nerve center of operations in Ukraine.
Faced with his greatest challenge since coming to power at the end of 1999, President Putin denounced “treason” and warned once morest “civil war”. The Kremlin also urged Western countries not to try to “take advantage of the internal situation in Russia to achieve their Russophobic goals”. “All the objectives of the special military operation (in Ukraine) will be achieved,” the Foreign Ministry said.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, Wagner’s rebellion shows that “the Russian leadership has no control over anything”. “The Kremlin man is obviously very scared and probably hiding somewhere,” he said.
His army claimed on Saturday “advances in all directions” on the eastern front where it claims to have launched new offensives.
The advance in Russia of the troops of Wagner led to the authorities to take exceptional security measures.
The Russian region of Kaluga, whose regional capital is 180 km south of Moscow, has introduced travel restrictions in the face of the rebellion.
Since the announcement of the Wagner Group’s rebellion on Friday night, their forces have been spotted in three Russian regions: Rostov, Voronezh and Lipetsk.
“Impact possible”
From Washington to Paris via Brussels, all Western chancelleries are monitoring the development of the situation in Russia very closely. US President Joe Biden met on Saturday with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, and with the heads of the German and British governments, Olaf Scholz and Rishi Sunak.
During this conversation, the French head of state mentioned a “possible impact” of this coup on the war in Ukraine.
A close ally of Vladimir Putin, the Belarusian president, for his part, claimed to have obtained from the head of Wagner the cessation of the movements of the troops of the paramilitary group in Russia.
“Evgeny Prigozhin has accepted the proposal of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to stop the movements of the armed men of the Wagner society and measures for a de-escalation of tensions”, indicated the unofficial Telegram channel of the Belarusian presidency, Poul Pervogo.
Rebellion of the Wagner group in Russia: The Belarusian president claims to have negotiated with Prigojine the “stopping of the movements” of Wagner (direct)
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