“Our columns are turning around and going in the opposite direction to the camps”: With these words Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary unit, ended his armed uprising against the Russian state leadership. It was a coup attempt against President Vladimir Putin in the middle of the war against Ukraine: Prigozhin’s private army advanced towards Moscow on Saturday. According to Prigozhin, she was within 200 kilometers of the Russian capital when he ordered the retreat on Saturday evening.
On Telegram, Prigozhin claimed to have ended the uprising without bloodshed. However, pro-Russian military blogs contradicted this account. According to them, several Russian Air Force pilots were killed. The death toll has varied between 13 and more than 20 soldiers, like the independent Internet portal currenttime reported on Sunday. In total, the private army shot down six helicopters and one reconnaissance plane. There was no confirmation of this from the Russian authorities.
Among the helicopters shot down were three used for electronic warfare Wed-8which were lacking at the front anyway, he complained Military Blog Rybar. In addition, a transport aircraft of the type Il-18 crashed, on board of which a command post was set up. All crew members died. Air Force losses are higher than during the Ukrainian counter-offensive at the front.
The last Wagner fighters left the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don early Sunday morning (local time). To the applause of the civilian population, the first vehicles with mercenaries first left the headquarters of the Russian Military Command South – which they had only occupied hours earlier – before later tanks and combat vehicles also left the city centre.
Chechen special units of the Achmat group also withdrew on Sunday, according to the Russian news agency Tass. The fighters of Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov had been deployed to the Rostov region to fend off a Wagner advance. The Akhmat special forces returned to where they would have fought before, Tass quoted commander Apti Alaudinov as saying.
According to official information, all roadblocks on the access roads around Moscow were lifted early Sunday morning.
Prigozhin goes to Belarus
The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko says he persuaded Prigozhin to give up. Lukashenko offered to be a mediator because he had known Prigozhin personally for about 20 years, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. Prigozhin himself did not comment directly on this. When he wants to go to Belarus is unclear.
Peskov added that Prigozhin would go unhindered to neighboring Belarus. Vladimir Putin’s former confidant has “the president’s word” as a guarantee for his free withdrawal.
No consequences for Prigozhin and his mercenaries
Although Putin had announced the punishment of the insurgents on Saturday morning, the Kremlin made different statements in the evening.
It is not yet clear whether, in addition to impunity, other concessions were made or at least promised to Prigozhin in order to stop the advance on Moscow.
The Wagner fighters should also not be prosecuted in view of their merits at the front in Ukraine, as Peskov said. Rather, some of the mercenaries are being offered a contract to serve in the Russian armed forces.
U.S. Secret Service Advice
US intelligence services apparently had clues as to Prigozhin’s plans. According to one report, they assume that the Wagner boss has been preparing for action against the Russian military leadership for some time. Prigozhin is said to have stockpiled weapons and ammunition near the border with Russia, according to CNN, citing unnamed intelligence sources. The New York Times and Washington Post also report on it.
However, the purpose of these plans was unclear. At the beginning of the week, some members of Congress were informed about the observations. According to CNN, a person familiar with the intelligence information said that “everything happened very quickly” and it was difficult to see what Prigozhin was planning.
War in Ukraine continues
According to the Russian leadership, the progress of the war against Ukraine has not been influenced by the Prigozhin uprising. Kremlin spokesman Peskov said he was also not aware of any changes in the president’s attitude towards Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Prigozhin accused the minister and Chief of Staff Valeri Gerasimov of incompetence and blamed them for the many setbacks on the battlefield.
Putin himself said on state television on Sunday that he was in constant contact with the defense ministry. Russia is confident of implementing all plans and tasks related to the “military operation” in Ukraine.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is shortening her trip to South Africa, which was originally planned to last two days, because of the power struggle in Russia. The minister had “postponed her planned departure for South Africa by one day in order to attend a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday morning in view of the latest developments in Russia,” said a spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office. Baerbock now wants to leave for South Africa on Monday afternoon.