Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered an address to the nation on Saturday, vowing to defend the country and its people against an armed revolt called by mercenary head Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Putin said the mutiny amounted to “a deadly threat to our statehood” and vowed “tough actions” in response. “All those who prepared the rebellion will suffer inevitable punishment. The armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders,” Putin said.
He called Prigozhin’s actions, without referring to the owner of the Wagner private military company by name, “a betrayal” and “a treason.” He urged “those who are being dragged into this crime not to make a fatal and tragic, unique mistake, to make the only right choice — to stop participating in criminal acts.”
Putin condemned the rebellion at a time when Russia was “fighting the toughest battle for its future” with its war in Ukraine. “The entire military, economic and information machine of the West is waged against us,” Putin said.
“This battle, when the fate of our people is being decided, requires the unification of all forces, unity, consolidation and responsibility.” An armed rebellion at a time like this is “a blow to Russia, to its people,” the president said.
“Those who plotted and organized an armed rebellion, who raised arms against his comrades-in-arms, betrayed Russia. And they will answer for it,” Putin said.
The owner of the Wagner private military contractor, who called for an armed uprising to depose Russia’s defense minister, said Saturday morning that he and his forces had crossed the border from Ukraine and had arrived in a crucial Russian city.
The Russian Defense Ministry condemned the acts as a “criminal venture” and demanded that Wagner fighters return to their deployment location. The ministry stated that they would be safe.
Yeveny Prigozhin posted a video of himself at the Russian military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, which supervises the war in Ukraine. He said that his soldiers controlled the city’s military infrastructure, including the airfield. Other social media footage showed military vehicles, including tanks, on the streets outside.
Prigozhin announced early Saturday that his soldiers had crossed into Russia from Ukraine and had arrived in Rostov, adding that they had encountered no resistance from young conscripts at checkpoints and that his forces “are not fighting against children.””
“But we will destroy anyone who stands in our way,” he said in one of a series of heated video and audio recordings released on social media late Friday. “We’re going forward and will keep going until the end.”
Russia’s security services had demanded Prigozhin’s arrest in response to his proclamation of armed insurrection. In a reminder of how seriously the Kremlin viewed the threat, officials proclaimed a “counterterrorist regime” in Moscow and its environs, enabling enhanced security and limited freedoms, and security was beefed up.
It wasn’t clear how he got into the southern Russian city or how many men he had with him.
Prigozhin claimed that Wagner field camps in Ukraine were attacked with rockets, helicopter gunships, and artillery fire on instructions from General Valery Gerasimov, following a meeting in Rostov with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in which they decided to eliminate Wagner. He also claimed that his men shot down a Russian military helicopter that fired on a civilian convoy, but no independent proof was provided.
Prigozhin stated that he had 25,000 troops under his command and that he would punish Shoigu in the event of an armed insurrection, and he urged the army not to resist: “This is not a military coup, but a march of justice.”
While the outcome of the clash was still unknown, it was likely to impede Moscow’s military effort as Kyiv’s soldiers probed Russian fortifications in the early phases of a counteroffensive. The dispute, particularly if Prigozhin wins, might have ramifications for President Vladimir Putin and his ability to maintain a united front.
Wagner forces have played an important part in Russia’s fight in Ukraine, capturing Bakhmut, the site of the fiercest and longest clashes. Prigozhin, on the other hand, has increasingly chastised Russia’s military leadership, accusing it of inefficiency and depriving his troops of weapons and ammunition.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, a branch of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, charged Prigozhin on Friday with inciting an armed revolt, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in jail.
Wagner’s contract soldiers were instructed by the FSB to arrest Prigozhin and refuse to carry out his “criminal and treacherous orders.” It labeled his remarks a “stab in the back to Russian troops” and accused him of inciting violent strife.
Putin was informed of the issue, and “all necessary measures were being taken,” according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He said on Saturday morning that Putin would address the nation “shortly.”
Heavy military trucks and armored vehicles were observed in many locations of central Moscow early Saturday, while soldiers armed with assault rifles were stationed outside the Defense Ministry’s main building. Traffic was backed up around the presidential administration near Red Square.
Even with the increased military presence, downtown pubs and restaurants were packed. People were dancing in the street near the entrance to one bar near the FSB headquarters.
Prigozhin, who has had a long-running feud with the Defense Ministry, had refused to comply with a demand that military contractors sign contracts with the ministry by July 1. In a statement issued late Friday, he stated that he was willing to make an agreement, but that “they have treacherously cheated us.”
“Today they carried out a rocket strike on our rear camps, and a huge number of our comrades got killed,” he said. The Defense Ministry denied attacking the Wagner camps.
“The evil embodied by the country’s military leadership must be stopped,” he shouted.
Col. Gen. Sergei Surovikin, deputy commander of the Russian group of forces fighting in Ukraine, asked the Wagner forces to refrain from attacking the army, claiming that doing so would play into the hands of Russia’s opponents, who are “waiting to see the exacerbation of our domestic political situation.”
Tatiana Stanovaya, a political analyst, anticipated Prigozhin’s demise.
“Now that the state has actively engaged, there’s no turning back,” she tweeted. “The termination of Prigozhin and Wagner is imminent. The only possibility now is absolute obliteration, with the degree of resistance from the Wagner group being the only variable. Surovikin was dispatched to convince them to surrender. Confrontation seems totally futile.”
Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alexeyev, a top military officer, denounced Prigozhin’s move as “madness” that threatens civil war.
“It’s a stab in the back to the country and the president. … Such a provocation could only be staged by enemies of Russia,” he said.
According to the Defense Ministry, Ukraine is concentrating soldiers for an attack around Bakhmut to capitalize on “Prigozhin’s provocation.” According to the report, Russian artillery and airplanes were firing on Ukrainian forces as they prepared for an invasion.
In Washington, the Institute for the Study of War said, “The violent overthrow of Putin loyalists like Shoigu and Gerasimov would cause irreparable damage to the stability of Putin’s perceived hold on power.”
At the White House, National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge said: “We are monitoring the situation and will be consulting with allies and partners on these developments.”
Serhii Popko, the head of the city’s military administration, stated on Telegram that a Russian missile attack killed at least two persons and injured eight others in Kyiv on Saturday when falling debris started a fire on many levels of a 24-story apartment building in a central sector.
He said that more than 20 missiles had been discovered and destroyed. A conflagration could be seen in the upper stories of the building, and the parking lot was scattered with ash and debris.
