A convoy of around 5,000 Wagner fighters approached Moscow by road before turning back at the last moment “to avoid bloodshed”. The development came mere hours after Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin declared an ‘armed rebellion’ against the Vladimir Putin-led government. The group had earlier crossed through Rostov-on-Don as they marched towards the capital.
In a series of video recordings released on Saturday, Prigozhin said that the “evil” of Russia’s military leadership “must be stopped”. His Wagner mercenary force, he had said, would lead a “march for justice” against the Russian military.
While this march took off on Saturday evening, it was eventually halted outside of Moscow. Prigozhin announced that he had decided to turn his men back when they were just 200 kilometers from Moscow to avoid “shedding Russian blood.” He did not say whether the Kremlin had responded to his demand to oust Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
There was no immediate comment from Putin’s government.
A source close to Russian-backed Donetsk leaders had earlier told Reuters that Wagner chief Dmitry Prigozhin had fewer than 25,000 men at his disposal in total. Of these, around 5,000 of them were in Rostov-on-Don – the southern city key to Russia’s war in Ukraine that Prigozhin said he had taken control of. The unnamed source also said that the mercenary boss’s plan for Moscow involved taking up positions in a densely built-up area.
Meanwhile the United States and its allies held close consultations but publicly stayed on the sidelines on Saturday as officials waited to see how the armed revolt would play out. Western allies were also looking to see if the turmoil inside Russia would offer any advantages for Ukraine as it pushes on in its counteroffensive against invading Russian forces in the east and south of the country.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Updated: 25 Jun 2023, 01:02 AM IST
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