Wagner’s Rebellion | Muscovites surprised, but confident in the Russian army

(Moscow) “Surprised” by the rebellion of the paramilitary group Wagner, residents of Moscow hope on Saturday that the Russian army will be able to put an end to it and that “order will prevail”.

“I read the news this morning, I was very surprised. I don’t know how to react to this,” says Elena, 35, in a burgundy jacket and black shirt.

“In any case, it’s very sad that all this is happening,” she adds. Above all, she says to herself “sorry for our graduates”, while the graduation ceremony for bachelors scheduled for Saturday has been postponed to another date.

Do not panic at this stage in Moscow: the inhabitants walk in the parks and the shopping boulevards of the center of the capital while eating an ice cream or walking their dog.

On the outskirts of the emblematic Red Square, closed, tourists take selfies.

Sergei, a 27-year-old entrepreneur, thought “that the situation in general could be dangerous and that something like this could happen, but that was a guess,” he told AFP.

“When it all happened, there was enormous tension,” he adds.

The city has been placed since Saturday morning under the “anti-terrorist operation regime”, which notably strengthens the powers of the security services and allows them to restrict movement.

Overnight, Russian media footage showed military vehicles driving through the streets of Moscow.

“Never calm in Russia”

The mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobyanin, even described the situation as “difficult” in the city, towards which the rebel forces of the paramilitary group Wagner are marching, and declared Monday a day off.

He called on Muscovites to “limit their movements as much as possible” and warned that traffic could be “blocked” on certain roads and in certain neighborhoods.

For Danil Novokreschenov, 22, “it has never been calm in Russia. There are always problems”.

President Vladimir Putin on Saturday strongly condemned the “betrayal” of the leader of the rebel paramilitaries, Yevgeny Prigojine, even going so far as to mention the threat of the risk of a “civil war”.

Olga Schmidt, a 29-year-old project manager, believes the Russian regular army “will be able to stop” Mr Prigozhin.

“It’s a kind of ambition (from the leader of the Wagner group, editor’s note.), when you have a lot of people under your orders, when you start to feel a kind of power, maybe that’s why he did that,” she said.

Olga Sokolova, 57, a high school English teacher, hopes for “a positive outcome” to the crisis.

“Personally,” she continues as she buys strawberries, “I and my relatives believe and hope that everything will be fine, that order will prevail.”