Power struggle in Russia
Wagner Uprising: Mercenaries already halfway to Moscow
Russian army personnel guard the highway near Moscow with a personnel carrier. photo
© -/AP/dpa
The power struggle between mercenary chief Prigozhin and the Russian leadership has escalated. The Wagner mercenary unit is now on its way to Moscow – and there are only around 400 kilometers to go.
According to the authorities, the Wagner mercenary unit has now reached the Lipetsk region on its way from Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia to Moscow during its armed uprising against the Russian leadership.
“Residents are strongly advised not to leave their homes and refrain from using public transport,” wrote the governor of the region, Igor Artamonov, on his Telegram channel. But the situation is under control. Lipetsk is about halfway between Rostov and Moscow – around 400 kilometers from the Russian capital.
Unlike the Voronezh region further south, there were no reports of fighting. Videos showed trucks tipped into the ditch. Apparently they had been set up in a hurry as a roadblock to stop the column of the Wagner mercenary unit. Other videos showed how roads were torn up and deep trenches dug. This, too, was apparently intended to stop the mercenaries. The authenticity of the videos could not initially be independently confirmed.
Armored personnel carriers and sandbags at Moscow Ring Road
Because of the advance towards the Russian capital, the authorities are said to have set up a checkpoint on at least one section of the Moscow ring road. “Security measures are being stepped up at a number of exits,” state news agency Ria Nowosti reported on Saturday. The accompanying video showed soldiers, an infantry fighting vehicle and a sandbag barrier. The clip was shot in the south-west of Moscow at an exit from the MKAD ring road.
The power struggle between mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian leadership had escalated during the night.