Putin calls Wagner Group rebellion a betrayal

(Moscow) Russian President Vladimir Putin vigorously stood up against the “treason” of the leader of the paramilitary group Wagner Evgeny Prigojine on Saturday, pointing to the risk of “civil war”.

The Russian army has begun to carry out “necessary operational and combat actions” in the Voronezh region, bordering Ukraine, some 600 km south of Moscow, regional governor Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

In a black suit, looking serious and in a martial tone, the Kremlin chief, who faces an unprecedented challenge since arriving in the Kremlin at the end of 1999, addressed at 3 a.m. (Eastern time) without the appoint to the man who dares to challenge him, accusing “traitors” to the Russian nation and promising to “punish” them.

“It’s a stab in the back of our country and our people,” Putin said in an address to the nation. “What we are facing is nothing but betrayal. A betrayal caused by the excessive ambitions and the personal interests “of Mr. Prigojine, he affirmed.

Putin is “deeply wrong” and that his fighters will not “surrender”, retorted the Wagner leader.

“We are patriots. No one is going to surrender at the request of the president, the security services or anyone,” added Prigojine, who is attacking the master of the Kremlin for the first time.

Earlier, Prigojine had claimed to hold the headquarters of the Russian army in Rostov, the nerve center of operations in Ukraine, and to control several military sites.

Note that Voronezh is halfway between Moscow and Rostov.

“The military sites in Rostov are under control, including the airfield,” Prigozhin said in a video posted on Telegram.

To counterbalance this open rebellion launched against Moscow, the leaders of the two houses of Parliament called for support “the consolidation of forces” as well as “President Vladimir Putin, the commander in chief”, declared on Telegram the president of the lower house. , Vyacheslav Volodin.

Russia’s “strength” lies in “unity […] and our historical intolerance for betrayals and provocations, ”added the president of the upper house, Valentina Matvienko.

Leaders installed by Russia in Donetsk and Luhansk regions (east), as well as Zaporizhia and Kherson (south) did the same, declaring in separate statements posted on Telegram, that their respective regions are “with the president! “.

The authorities have reinforced security measures in Moscow where the “anti-terrorist operation regime” has just been established, a direct consequence of the threat from Prigozhin who launched in an audio message on Telegram: “We continue, we will go until at the end” and “we will destroy everything that gets in our way”.

On the Ukrainian side, President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted on Russia’s “obvious” weakness, maintaining that his country protects Europe from Russian “evil and chaos”.

“Ready to die”

“We are all ready to die, all 25,000. And after that there will be another 25,000. Because we are dying for the homeland, we are dying for the Russian people who must be liberated from those who bombard the civilian population” , had hammered Prigozhin.

During the night, he announced that he had crossed the border and entered Rostov, headquarters of the headquarters of the southern command of the Russian army from where military operations in Ukraine are coordinated. He also assured that his troops had shot down a Russian helicopter which had “opened fire on a civilian column”.

He did not provide any proof of these assertions, the veracity of which AFP was unable to confirm.

The governor of the Rostov region called on the population to “stay at home”, and that of Lipetsk, 420 km south of Moscow, also announced “reinforced security measures”.

Putin was forced to admit that the situation in Rostov is indeed “difficult”.

Investigation for mutiny

Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov informed President Vladimir Putin “of the opening of a criminal investigation in connection with the attempt to organize an armed mutiny”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

In multiple audio messages throughout the day, Wagner’s boss previously claimed that Russian strikes had caused a “very large number of casualties” in his ranks.

“They carried out strikes, missile strikes, on our rear camps. A very large number of our fighters have been killed,” he said, accusing Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of ordering the attacks.

These accusations “do not correspond to reality and are a provocation”, retorted the Ministry of Defense in a press release.

The FSB (security forces) called on Wagner’s fighters to arrest their leader. And an influential Russian general, Sergei Surovikin, urged Wagner’s fighters to give up their revolt.

This open war exposes the tensions within the Russian forces engaged in the Ukrainian conflict.

“Those who have military responsibility for the country must be stopped,” also said the boss of Wagner, calling on the Russians to join his troops or not to oppose them.

“Help Even the Devil”

In Washington, the White House said it was monitoring the situation closely.

Russian opponent in exile in London and businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky has called for support for Yevgeny Prigojine to fight Vladimir Putin’s regime. “Yes, even the devil would have to help him if he decided to go against this regime! “, he wrote on Telegram.

“There are no military successes” from Moscow, Prigojine said on Friday, saying that the Russian military “washes themselves with their blood”, a way of saying that they suffer heavy losses.

Unverifiable from an independent source, the words of Wagner’s boss in any case contradict those of Vladimir Putin and Sergei Shoigu, according to whom the Russian army “repels” all Ukrainian attacks.

On Saturday, the European Union, in the front row, argued that it is “closely monitoring the situation” and that it is “in contact” with the G7 powers.

Prime Minister Georgia Meloni considered that these events “show how the aggression against Ukraine also causes instability in the country”.

French President Emmanuel Macron argued that he is “monitoring the situation closely. We remain focused on supporting Ukraine”.

The German government is also following “closely the events in Russia”, a spokesman told AFP on Saturday.

Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister for his part called on all parties to be “responsible” and to “protect civilians”

For British counterintelligence, this situation “is the most significant challenge posed recently to the Russian state”.

In recent days, Mr. Putin has repeated that the Ukrainian counter-offensive was a failure and that the Kyiv forces had suffered near “catastrophic” losses.

Mr. Prigojine described these victorious declarations as “deep deception”.