Heavily armed Russian mercenaries withdrew from the southern Russian city of Rostov under a deal that halted their rapid advance on Moscow but raised questions on Sunday about President Vladimir Putin's grip on power.
Fighters of the Wagner private mercenary group are deployed in a street near the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023. The group began returning to their bases on Saturday, June 24, 2023, in accordance with a deal brokered by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. REUTERS/Stringer
He said he was giving top priority to the conflict in Ukraine in excerpts from an interview aired by state television on Sunday, but it appeared to have been recorded before the mutiny and he made no reference to Saturday's events. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed the events in Russia in separate phone calls with US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
After capturing Rostov, the main rear logistical hub for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the mercenaries began what Prigozhin called a "march for justice" on Saturday, transporting tanks and armored trucks hundreds of miles north and smashing barricades set up to stop them before the deal to stand down.
"The opinions of a person who has a certain weight in society should probably be heard by the authorities," said Oleg, a Moscow resident who also did not provide a last name. This month, Prigozhin defied orders to place his troops under Defense Ministry command. He launched the rebellion on Friday after alleging the military had killed some of his men in an air strike. The Defense Ministry denied this.
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