Russian President Vladimir Putin vigorously stood up on Saturday against the “treason” of the leader of the paramilitary group Wagner, Evgeni Progozhin, 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.
Rumors
And while rumors on social networks claimed that Mr. Putin had left Moscow after the mutiny, his spokesman Dmitri Peskov quoted by the Ria Novosti agency, assured that “the president works in the Kremlin”.
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 including the airfield.
To counterbalance this rebellion 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.
The leaders installed by Russia in the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk (east), as well as Zaporizhia and Kherson (south) did the same, declaring themselves “with the president! “.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov announced on Saturday that he would send his men to “areas of tension”. “We will do everything to preserve Russia’s unity and protect its statehood,” he said on Telegram.
The authorities have reinforced security measures in Moscow where the “anti-terrorist operation regime” has just been established, after the threat of Prigojine who had launched on Telegram: “We continue, we will go to the end” and “we destroy everything that gets in our way.
The Russian army said on Saturday that it had repelled nine Ukrainian attacks against its positions in southern and eastern Ukraine in the past 24 hours. These claims were not independently verifiable.
On the Ukrainian side, President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted on Russia’s “obvious” weakness, maintaining that his country protects Europe from Russian “evil and chaos”.
“Enhanced Security”
“We are all ready to die, all 25,000. And after that there will be another 25,000,” Prigojine had hammered.
During the night he had announced that he had entered Rostov. He also assured that his troops had shot down a Russian helicopter which had “opened fire on a civilian column”. But he did not provide proof of these assertions, the veracity of which AFP could not verify.
The governor of the Rostov region called on the population to “stay at home”, and that of Lipetsk, 420 km south of Moscow, announced “reinforced security measures”.
Mr Putin was forced to admit that the situation in Rostov is “difficult”.
A “criminal investigation” linked to an “attempt to organize an armed mutiny” has been announced, according to the Kremlin spokesman.
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. “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 general, Sergei Surovikin, urged them to give up their revolt.
“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.
” Gift “
The White House and the European Union said they were closely monitoring the situation and the heads of G7 diplomacy met for an “exchange of views”.
Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister called on all parties to be “responsible” and to “protect civilians”.
The Russian opponent in exile in London and businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky called on Telegram to support Yevgeny Prigojine against Vladimir Putin: “Yes, even the devil would have to help him if he decided to go against this regime! “.
“There are no Russian military successes,” Prigozhin lamented on Friday, suggesting that the Russian army is suffering heavy losses in Ukraine.
Unverifiable from independent sources, these remarks contradict those of Putin, according to whom the Russian army “repels” all Ukrainian attacks.
The Kremlin has assured that President Putin has received the “full support” of his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
And Belarusian diplomacy claimed that Wagner’s rebellion was a “gift” given to the West.