Day trippers in the quiet center of Moscow, but extra security at all strategic places

“You cannot go through here, the square is closed due to the general situation in the country. You must turn around.” Three police officers stand next to the famous GOeM department store on Red Square in the center of Moscow and guard the rows of crush barriers that have been set up around the square and Kremlin in the night from Friday to Saturday. They kindly direct surprised day-trippers the other way, down Nikolskaya Street towards the Bolshoi Theatre.

“I have no idea what’s going on,” says a woman with a shrug, as she positions her daughter in front of the fence for a photo. On the other side of the square in front of the red-brick Historical Museum, the first groups of tourists are preparing for a tour with their guides. Despite the drizzle, ice cream vendors routinely set up their carts, Muscovites hurry through the streets to the subway. Police are scarce.

Deceptive tranquility

The calm on the street this Saturday morning is deceptive. On Friday afternoon, the conflict that had been openly brewing for months between Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian defense top led by Minister Sergey Shoigu came to its long-awaited eruption. In a flaming video message, the Wagner boss accused the Russian army of carrying out a deadly rocket attack on a camp not far from the Donbas border.

In the night from Friday to Saturday, developments followed at lightning speed: Wagner units claimed the capture of the military headquarters in Rostov, where Prigozhin spoke in a compelling tone to high-ranking Russian soldiers. Explosions were heard and Telegram channels showed Wagner units setting up anti-tank guns in the streets. In the course of the morning, Wagner forces are said to have moved steadily north towards northern Voronezh and the Oka River. A message circulated on Telegram news channels that an Ilyushin aircraft of the Russian Air Force was allegedly shot down in the Voronezh region.

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Neither the large-scale rebellion of Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, nor his alleged advance, was noticeable on the streets of Moscow on Saturday morning. Nor of the “anti-terrorist operation” declared by the Russian authorities in the regions of Moscow, Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh. The arterial roads on the south side of the city have extra strict security. But there are only a handful of soldiers and members of Putin’s elite unit Rosgvardia at the Defense Ministry on the wide Froenze quay in the center.

‘Everything is possible, we’ll see’

Despite the apparent calm on the streets, state media reports also show how tense the situation in the capital really is. On Saturday morning, all major events in the capital were canceled and security tightened by order of Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin. At the same time, President Vladimir Putin spoke live on state television of “a stab in the back of our nation,” accused his former Kremlin chef of “high treason,” and threateningly vowed that all participants in the “armed uprising” will be punished. for the law and for our people”.

On the square of the Belorussian Station, on the north side of the center, a group of young soldiers in brand new green suits with duffel bags march to the platforms, where trains depart for the Belgorod region and the front in the south. A group of taxi drivers is smoking in front of the mint green building. They know that the center has been closed off. “Prigozhin has opened the attack,” says one. “Be careful, soon the army will confiscate means of transport. Or worse, anyone who owns two cars will simply be liquidated. It’s all possible, we’ll see.” He laughs and lights another cigarette.

Read also: Wagner leader Prigozhin threatens to steam up to Moscow. What preceded his mutiny?

According to media reports, the Kremlin attempted to negotiate with Prigozhin early in the morning to prevent fighting from breaking out in the capital. However, nothing would have come of that. The Russian-language news site Medusawhich has been labeled an ‘undesirable organization’ in Russia and is being blocked, reports this based on anonymous sources around the Kremlin.

Shipping traffic on the Moscow River has been suspended, capital media report. Activities on piers and quays on the Moskwa River are also limited, according to the Ministry of Transport. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin denied reports of traffic closures on the city’s arterial roads.