Rebellious Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday he had taken control of the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don as part of an attempt to oust the military leadership amid what the authorities said was an armed mutiny.
Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin is shown in photo speaking with servicemen during withdrawal of his forces from Bakhmut and handing over their positions to regular Russian troops, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in an unidentified location, Russian-controlled Ukraine, in this still image taken from video released June 1, 2023. Prigozhin says he has taken control of a Russian city.
"There are 25,000 of us and we are going to figure out why chaos is happening in the country," he said, promising to destroy any checkpoints or air forces that got in Wagner's way. Russia's FSB security had earlier opened a criminal case against Prigozhin for armed mutiny and had said that his statements were "calls for the start of an armed civil conflict on Russian territory and his actions a 'stab in the back' of Russian servicemen fighting pro-fascist Ukrainian forces".
"The war wasn't needed to demilitarize or denazify Ukraine," he said, referring to Putin's justifications for the war. Footage on channels based in Rostov-on-Don showed armed men in military uniform skirting the regional police headquarters in the city on foot, as well as tanks positioned outside the headquarters of the Southern Military District.Military convoyHe said he had led his fighters out of Ukraine to Rostov, where a video posted by a pro-Wagner Telegram channel showed him, seemingly relaxed, conversing with two generals at the headquarters of Russia's huge Southern Military District.
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