Images of Wagner’s departure from Rostov army base
Quiet night after Wagner’s advance on Moscow was halted. Briefly summarize the events
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenaries made an advance on Moscow on Saturday, but stopped that action the same day. Prigozhin reportedly stopped the march through the intervention of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. The situation in Russia seems to be de-escalating. The night from Saturday to Sunday was relatively quiet. This is known so far:
- Wagner’s head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said Saturday night in an audio message on Telegram having ordered his mercenaries to halt their advance on Moscow. Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko announced that Prigozhin agreed after mediation. One of the guarantees Wagner received concerns the safety of his men. In the meantime, the Wagner troops would set course again for the Ukrainian front. Prigozhin himself is moving to Belarus, the Russian state press agency reports BAG.
- The Wagner mercenaries are said to have approached Moscow up to about 200 kilometers on Saturday after orders from Prigozhin to invade the Russian capital in what he called a “march of justice”. The Wagner leader came to that decision after some of his men, he said, had been hit in a Russian bombing raid earlier this week. A direct clash between military units still stationed in Russia and those of Wagner largely failed to materialize, although images and reports circulated about a shot down Ka-52 attack helicopter. An oil depot near southern Voronezh also caught fire.
- Earlier on Saturday, various physical and digital blockades were imposed in Russia and around the capital Moscow. For example, roads were closed in several places, and Russians were denied access to Google News and Wagner’s digital channels. Muscovites were ordered to stay indoors in view of possible fighting in the Russian capital.
- Foreign leaders followed developments closely on Saturday. For example, the G7 of leading industrialized states was convened and high-level consultations took place in the US between, among others, President Joe Biden and his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antony Blinken. Neighboring Belarus expressed support for President Putin and his regime.
- The US security services would have known about Prigozhin’s plans to revolt since mid-June. That reports The Washington Post based on anonymous sources. Exactly when he would take action and what he would do was unclear to the security services until shortly before the uprising, according to the newspaper.
- The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs guess Dutch citizens strictly not to travel to Russia anymore. Compatriots who are still on Russian territory are advised to leave the country.