Unverified social media videos show Wagner troops walking around Rostov-on-Don amid the locals - as well as drones flying over crowds and tanks parked in the streets. Several mercenaries are proceeding towards Moscow.
After taking a crucial military post on Saturday, rebel Wagner mercenaries moved northward towards Moscow on Saturday, just as Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to put an end to the uprising and prevent the outbreak of civil war. The quickly developing events represent both Russia's most significant security crisis since the strongman took office in late 1999 and the most serious challenge to the Russian president's reign to date.
BREAKING ⚡⚡
Huge Convoy of Pro & Forces marching near city of to take on mercenaries headed by 🇷🇺
Tough time for is coming Look like Huge battle is waiting b/w both side pic.twitter.com/SxY21whPcS
Putin's spokesman insisted the Russian leader was still at work in the Kremlin and had not fled Moscow, as regular forces launched a "counter-terrorist operation" to halt the rebel advance in the Voronezh region, on the Wagner force's route to the capital.
Also read: Explained: Why Wagner mercenaries went rogue and 'invaded' Vladimir Putin's Russia
Wagner's private military group was reportedly "moving across" the area, according to the governor of the Lipetsk region, whose seat is only 420 kilometres (260 miles) south of Moscow. The governor advised residents to stay inside their homes.
The Wagner Group, a military group of 50,000 mercenaries and former allies of Putin, has taken up arms against the Russian President. Military vehicles surround the center of Moscow, with planes and tanks filling the streets. There is talk of a coup against Putin. pic.twitter.com/SnFHrknnkP
— Insane Reality Leaks (@InsaneRealitys)Wagner mercenaries arrived in Rostov-on-Don earlier today. Some troops then left and are proceeding north towards Moscow, but many "Wagnerites" have stayed in Rostov.
In the region, they are destroying part of the road to stop mercenaries moving toward . pic.twitter.com/DjOgUcHRH9
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv)Unverified social media videos show Wagner troops mingling with city residents as they walk through the city centre, along with drones flying above the people, and tanks parked in the streets. Videos also showed Rostov's train station to be overflowing with passengers, with hundreds of them standing on the platform. According to reports, Rostov has stopped selling bus tickets, giving residents few options for leaving the city.
Videos in the suburbs of Moscow right now are INSANE pic.twitter.com/ff1hWJLrzb
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson)Wagner's T-80BV drifting in downtown pic.twitter.com/8C4iwmITDd
— Prateek Pratap Singh (@PrateekPratap5)Breaking: As Putin allegedly has fled Moscow, the Wagner Group has reportedly broken through road barriers on the way to Moscow after the Russian military used abandoned vehicles to try and slow them down.
The Russian military also has reportedly used excavators to damage the… pic.twitter.com/nl3GET2Yza
Drones, tanks and lots of people outside the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the center of . pic.twitter.com/Pe1L3Wo0ho
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv)While everything was going on, Ukrainian commanders were enjoying the internal strife among their adversaries in Russia. A deputy defence minister even called it a "window of opportunity" for Kyiv's most recent counteroffensive to clear its area of Russian forces.
⚡️Unverified video supposedly showing Chechen troops in Moscow Oblast pic.twitter.com/51yq9lb4yv
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors)Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner force and a former close Putin supporter, claimed that his soldiers had taken over the military command post and airbase in Rostov-on-Don, at the south of the country, which served as the hub of Russia's offensive in Ukraine. He also vowed to depose Moscow's top military officials.
announces to have taken control of the airfield to prevent Russian fighter jets to take off. The military head quarter is controlled by his mercenaries pic.twitter.com/qyriLPuSlP
— Pierre Crom (@PierreCrom)PMC "Wagner" began to disperse the townspeople at the headquarters of the Southern Military District with the help of automatic shots. pic.twitter.com/yqgx2uyaiq
— Bilco Blue (@Bilco_Blue)"We got to Rostov. Without a single shot we captured the HQ building," he said, in an audio message on social media channels, claiming that local civilians had welcomed the operation.
"Why does the country support us? Because we went on a march of justice," he said, claiming his men had not killed any soldiers despite having been hit with strikes from army "artillery and after that from helicopters."
BREAKING:
The Wagner Group has smashed through the first road barriers on the way to Moscow pic.twitter.com/LdzVXjqy7L
Putin responded to the challenge in a televised speech, accusing Prighozin of a "stab in the back" that threatened Russia's own survival. Prighozin's private army provided shock troops for Moscow's operation in Ukraine. "Any internal turmoil is a deadly threat to our statehood and to us as a nation. This is a blow to Russia and to our people," Putin said.
Also read: Vladimir Putin calls Wagner's mutiny a 'stab in the back', warns of harsh response
"Extravagant ambitions and personal interests led to treason. All those who consciously stood on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed rebellion, stood on the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, before the law and before our people." Putin added.
The situation in the city of remains the same - there is a large concentration of armed people and military equipment on the streets. pic.twitter.com/aGxyB1DNQt
— Bilco Blue (@Bilco_Blue)Security beefed up in Moscow; Mayor asks people to stay indoors
All large-scale outdoor events have been put on hold in the Moscow region until July 1st, according to the authorities. It comes after the mayor asked everyone to avoid moving around the city.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin warned the situation in the capital was "difficult," as forces of the Wagner mercenary group moved towards Moscow to oust Russia's military leadership. "The situation is difficult. I ask you to refrain from travelling around the city as much as possible," Sobyanin said in a statement, warning of possible road closures and announcing Monday was a "non-working" day.
⚡️Checkpoints started to get set up in Moscow pic.twitter.com/qFJvMVtgc8
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors)The Russian authorities have people digging up the roads leading to Moscow in an attempt to stop the advance on the city by the Wagner Group.
pic.twitter.com/K9xjvFMK1P
Russia warned the West against taking advantage of the armed insurrection by the Wagner group in Russia to achieve what Moscow said were their "anti-Russian" goals. "We warn the Western countries against any hint of possible use of the domestic Russian situation to achieve their Russophobic goals," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
In the region, they are destroying part of the road to stop mercenaries moving toward . pic.twitter.com/DjOgUcHRH9
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv)Putin's speech accusing him of treason was followed by Prigozhin's second broadside. "On treason of the motherland: the president is deeply wrong. We are patriots of our motherland," Prigozhin said. "Nobody plans to turn themselves in at the request of the president, the FSB or anyone else."
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said the uprising indicated Russia's was failing as he watched events in Russia as his own forces carried out a sluggish counteroffensive.
"Russia's weakness is obvious. Full-scale weakness," he said. "And the longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries on our land, the more chaos, pain, and problems it will have for itself later. It is also obvious, that Ukraine is able to protect Europe from the spread of Russian evil and chaos."