(FILES) (COMBO) This combination of photos shows Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) attending a meeting with a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, specialist in applied and fundamental endocrinology Ivan Dedov, at the Kremlin in Moscow on June 23, 2023, ** Editor’s note : this image is distributed by Russian state owned agency Sputnik **, and Yevgeny Prigozhin (R) prior to a meeting with business leaders held by Russian and Chinese presidents at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 4, 2017. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, vowed on June 24, 2023 to “go to the end” to topple the Russian military leadership, whom he accused of launching strikes on his men, while the country’s prosecutor general said he was under investigation for “armed rebellion”. “We will destroy everything that stands in our way,” he added in the most audacious challenge to President Vladimir Putin since the start of the offensive in Ukraine last year. (Photo by GAVRIIL GRIGOROV and Sergei ILNITSKY / SPUTNIK / AFP)
MOSCOW, June 24, 2023 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to punish “traitors” from the Wagner mercenary group, after its leader swore he would topple Moscow’s military leadership.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, released a series of messages from late Friday into Saturday, claiming that he and his mercenary troops had entered the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and taken control of its military sites.
Here is what we know so far:
– What sparked the rebellion? –
For months, Prigozhin has been locked in a power struggle with the military top brass, blaming them for his troops’ deaths in eastern Ukraine.
He has repeatedly accused them of failing to equip his private army adequately, of holding up progress with bureaucracy, while claiming victories won by Wagner as their own.
On Friday, Prigozhin’s anger appeared to boil over, as he accused Moscow’s military leadership of ordering strikes on Wagner’s camps and killing a large number of forces.
He said they had to be stopped and vowed to “go to the end”.
He later claimed his forces had downed a Russian military helicopter.
Hours later, the leader of the mercenary group said he had military sites in southern Russia’s Rostov-on-Don “under control”.
– How is Moscow reacting? –
The Kremlin had said overnight that “measures are being taken” against the mutiny.
Russia has tightened security in Moscow and several regions such as Rostov and Lipetsk.
Putin has called the Wagner mutiny a “deadly threat” to Russia and urged the country to unite.
Branding the action by Wagner mercenaries as “treason”, he vowed “inevitable punishment”.
– Who are the Wagner troops? –
The private army had been involved in conflicts in the Middle East and Africa but always denied involvement.
Prigozhin last year admitted he had founded the group, recruiting the soldiers from Russian prisons in exchange for amnesty.
In eastern Ukraine, the mercenary unit has been spearheading Russia’s costly battles.
It had been at the forefront of the months-long assault for Bakhmut, capturing the site for Russia, but at huge losses.
Members of Wagner group sit atop of a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023. President Vladimir Putin on June 24, 2023 said an armed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries was a “stab in the back” and that the group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had betrayed Russia, as he vowed to punish the dissidents. Prigozhin said his fighters control key military sites in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP)Members of Wagner group sit atop of a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023. President Vladimir Putin on June 24, 2023 said an armed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries was a “stab in the back” and that the group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had betrayed Russia, as he vowed to punish the dissidents. Prigozhin said his fighters control key military sites in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP)People walk down a street as members of Wagner group patrol an area in the center of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023. President Vladimir Putin on June 24, 2023 said an armed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries was a “stab in the back” and that the group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had betrayed Russia, as he vowed to punish the dissidents. Prigozhin said his fighters control key military sites in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP)Law enforcement officers patrol an area in front of the Spasskaya tower in Moscow, on June 24, 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday acknowledged a “difficult” situation was unfolding in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, where the Wagner mercenary group has taken control of key military sites in an effort to oust Russian military’s top brass. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP)Law enforcement officers patrol an area in front of the Spasskaya tower in Moscow, on June 24, 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday acknowledged a “difficult” situation was unfolding in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, where the Wagner mercenary group has taken control of key military sites in an effort to oust Russian military’s top brass. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP)
– How this affects Russia’s war –
The rebellion marks the most serious challenge yet to Putin’s long rule and Russia’s most serious security crisis since he came to power in late 1999.
It would divert attention and resources away from the battlefields in Ukraine, at a time when Kyiv is in the midst of a counteroffensive to seize back territory.
Ukraine’s army has said it was “watching” the infighting between Prigozhin and Putin.
Moscow meanwhile has warned that Kyiv’s army was seizing the moment to concentrate its troops “for offensive actions” near Bakhmut.
The significance of the mutiny was also not lost on world leaders, with leaders of the United States, France and Germany all saying that they are watching developments closely.