By Mimi Nguyen Ly and Caden Pearson
President Vladimir Putin vowed on Saturday to protect Russia against an armed rebellion announced by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Russian Wagner paramilitary group, whom Putin denounced as a traitor to the country.
In a televised address to the nation, Putin called on those involved in the rebellion to cease participation in armed conflict, pledging to defend “the motherland.”
“All those who prepared the rebellion will suffer inevitable punishment. The armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders,” Putin said.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief and founder of the private military contractor Wagner, posted a video of himself in the key city of Rostov-on-Don at the Russian military headquarters that oversees the fighting in Ukraine on Saturday morning local time. He said that a large militia had crossed the border from Ukraine and is now occupying all the military installations across the key Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, including its airfield.
Rostov-on-Don, about 60 miles from the Ukraine border, is home to the headquarters of the Russian Southern Military District, which oversees the fighting in Ukraine.
Russia has called for Prigozhin’s arrest on charges of inciting an armed rebellion.
Putin characterized the occupation of Rostov-on-Don as a betrayal fueled by the ambitions of hostile forces, equating it to an armed mutiny against Russia.
He 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.
“We are fighting against anarchy and capitulation. This internal mutiny is a mortal blow to us. It is a blow to our people as a whole,” Putin said.
“These people who are responsible will certainly be brought to justice on behalf of our people,” he added.
Putin said that his armed forces have received instructions, and steps have been taken to secure Moscow.
“As president of Russia, and commander in chief, as a citizen of Russia, I am doing everything to repel this attack and to ensure the freedom and security of our citizens,” Putin said.
Video Posted on Social Media
Prigozhin, in a video posted to Telegram early Saturday, demanded to meet with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, at the military headquarters to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war. He said Wagner troops would also move to Moscow if the two did not meet with him in Rostov-on-Don.
It comes as Russia announced a criminal probe against Prigozhin on charges of inciting an armed rebellion after he vowed retaliation against the Russian military and its leadership, for what he alleged was an attack on Wagner soldiers by the Russian military on Friday.
Specifically, Prigozhin earlier said on Telegram that Wagner’s field camps in Ukraine were struck Friday by rockets, helicopter gunships, and artillery fire, which killed some 2,000 Wagner soldiers.
Prigozhin alleged the attack was ordered by Gerasimov after a meeting with Shoigu, at which they decided to destroy Wagner. The Epoch Times cannot independently verify the claims.
The Wagner Group is a private military company with close ties to the Kremlin. Wagner’s contracted soldiers have, since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022, fought as counterparts to the Russian army in battles against Ukrainian forces.
Prigozhin said on Telegram that in response to the Friday attack allegedly by Russia’s military, soldiers of the Wagner mercenary group would punish Shoigu in an armed rebellion. He urged Russian soldiers not to offer resistance. “This is not a military coup, but a march of justice,” he said.
“Those who destroyed our lads, who destroyed the lives of many tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, will be punished.”
Russia Opens Criminal Probe, Orders Arrest
Russia’s defense ministry issued a statement denying any role in the Friday attack against Wagner. The ministry also said Prigozhin’s accusations were “not true and are an informational provocation.”
The Federal Security Services (FSB), Russia’s domestic intelligence service, opened a criminal investigation against Prigozhin on charges of calling for an armed rebellion, reported state-owned Russian news agency TASS, citing the National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which is part of the FSB. If convicted, Prigozhin faces up to 20 years in prison.
The FSB also called on Wagner’s soldiers to refuse to follow Prigozhin’s “criminal and treacherous orders” and arrest him.
“Prigozhin’s statements and actions effectively constitute calls for an armed civil conflict on Russian territory and a stab in the back of Russian servicemen fighting with pro-Nazi Ukrainian forces,” the FSB said, reported TASS.
Prigozhin, a one-time Putin ally, in recent months, has been openly accusing Shoigu and Gerasimov of gross incompetence.
On Friday, Prigozhin made another strong accusation, saying that Russia’s reasoning for invading Ukraine in February 2022—which Putin has called a “special military operation”—was based on lies from the army’s leadership.
Troops Have Crossed Into Russia: Prigozhin
Prigozhin claimed Saturday around 2 a.m. local time that his forces had crossed the border from Ukraine and were in Rostov-on-Don.
He said they “will destroy anyone” who stands in their way, adding, “we are moving forward and will go until the end.” Prigozhin also said that so far, his troops have faced no resistance at various checkpoints.
According to TASS, citing a law enforcement source, security was fortified late Friday at Moscow’s critical facilities, and security measures have been increased in the capital, with Russian National Guard special units on full alert.
The news agency also reported that police and military checkpoints have been established in Rostov-on-Don, near the Southern Military District headquarters.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said all Russian security agencies were reporting to Russian President Vladimir Putin “around the clock” regarding the situation around Prigozhin. Peskov added that “necessary measures are being taken,” reported Russian news agency Interfax.
Separately, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence said in a Twitter post: “We are watching.”
The Wagner Group
The Wagner Group—officially called Private Military Company (PMC) Wagner—has led much of the fighting in Ukraine, especially in the eastern Donbas region.
This included the months-long fighting in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where the longest and bloodiest battles have taken place. In May, the Wagner Group and Russian forces captured the war-torn town.
The Epoch Times previously reported in February that a Chinese satellite manufacturer backed by the Chinese Communist Party has been providing assistance to the Wagner Group to conduct combat operations in Ukraine.
The Wagner Group was first identified in 2014, when it was seen in action in eastern Ukraine, in the weeks following Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
Wagner soldiers have, since 2014, also deployed to Syria, where Russia supported President Bashar Assad’s government in a civil war. In Libya, they fought alongside the forces of commander Khalifa Hifter. The Wagner Group has also operated in the Central African Republic and Mali.
Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, Wagner fighters have been accused of atrocities, including mass killings, executions of civilians, and beheading prisoners of conscience.
In January, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said Wagner “almost certainly now commands 50,000 fighters in Ukraine,” but by late May, Prigozhin asserted that the Wagner Group had lost roughly 20,000 soldiers in the fighting in Bakhmut.
As Wagner troops fought and died en masse in Ukraine, Prigozhin sharply rebuked Russia’s military leadership.
In a video released by his team in May, Prigozhin stood next to rows of bodies he said were slain Wagner fighters, whose deaths he blamed on the Russian defense ministry’s negligence. He accused Shoigu of incompetence and of starving his troops of the weapons and ammunition they needed to fight.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
