“We are all ready to die. All 25,000, and then another 25,000».
The head of the powerful Wagner militia Yevgeny Prigozhin ( WHO IS IT ) officially declares war on Moscow's military leaders, after accusing the regular troops of bombing the camps of his fighters on the orders of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu making "an enormous number" of dead .
The leader of the paramilitary group has launched a mutiny in Russia, demanding a change in defense leadership and creating a situation of extreme instability and an internal war parallel to the one that has been going on in Ukraine for almost 500 days. The former "Putin's cook," as he is nicknamed, said he had arrived at Russian army headquarters in Rostov , a key center for Russia's assault on Ukraine, and seized control of military sites, including an airport.
"We are at the headquarters, it is 07:30," he punctuated in a video broadcast on Telegram, explaining that "the Rostov military sites are under control, including the airport."
The Russian military headquarters in Rostov on the Don River is a key logistical base for the offensive into Ukraine . "We have taken the airport under control so that attack aircraft do not hit us," Prigozhin said. « We are moving forward and we will go to the end, we will overthrow the Russian military leadership in Moscow ». The Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, he added, "ran away from here when he discovered that we were approaching the building".
Then the Wagner vehicles began advancing unopposed towards Moscow, arriving in the Lipetsk area, less than 500 km south of the capital.
So the march continued, but 200 km from Moscow the stop came and the order to retreat given by Prigozhin himself, so as "not to shed Russian blood, on one side or the other".
In the early hours of the morning Putin broadcast a speech to the nation on TV, condemning the Prigozhin revolt: "A stab in the back, firm actions will be taken to stabilize the situation in Rostov-on-Don which remains difficult". And again: « All those who have chosen the path of betrayal will be punished and will be held accountable. The armed forces have received the necessary orders. I appeal to those who have been involved in this, I call on you to stop your criminal actions. We will defend our people and our state from any betrayal."
What is happening in Russia obviously shakes the international community. Both EU foreign affairs chief Joseph Borrell and US secretary of state Antony Blinken held telephone talks with G7 leaders. Contacts at the highest level also for the US president Joe Biden , who spoke with the French president Emmanuel Macron , the German chancellor Olaf Scholz and the British prime minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak to take stock of an alarming and constantly evolving situation.
(Unioneonline/Dl.f.)