Mutinous Russian mercenary fighters headed towards Moscow on Saturday after seizing a southern city overnight, with Russia’s military firing on them from the air but seemingly incapable of slowing their lightning advance. The fighters of the Wagner private army run by former Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin were already most of the way to the capital, having captured the city of Rostov and set off on an 1,100 km (680 mile) race to Moscow. Troop carriers and a flatbed truck carrying a tank were seen driving past the city of Voronezh more than half way to Moscow, where a helicopter fired on them. But there were no reports of the rebels meeting any substantial resistance on the highway. The leadership in the Russian-held part of Ukraine’s Donetsk province said the convoy nearing Moscow had about 5,000 fighters, with a similar number in Rostov. The mercenaries, led by a senior Wagner commander, Dmitry Utkin, intended to take up positions in a densely built-up area. Outside Moscow, armored military vehicles set up road blocks, while Russian media showed small groups of police manning machine gun positions on the southern outskirts. The Associated Press has the story:
Moscow Mayor: Traffic could be restricted
Newslooks- (AP)
Moscow’s mayor warned Saturday that traffic could be restricted in parts of Russia’s capital as part of heightened security prompted by the rebellion of mercenaries with private military company Wagner.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin asked the city’s residents to refrain from using their cars amid the counter-terrorism operation in Moscow and the surrounding region that authorities introduced earlier Saturday. He also declared Monday a non-working day for most people, with the exception of public servants and employees of some industrial enterprises.
Sobyanin noted that all key city services were put on high readiness and advised residents to report any emergencies.
The governor of the region surrounding Russia’s capital has suspended mass public events outdoors and at educational institutions until July 1.
Gov. Andrei Vorobyov issued a decree with the bans on Saturday as the chief of private Russian military company Wagner said his mercenaries were heading to Moscow in an armed rebellion against Russia’s defense minister.
The governor’s decree doesn’t apply to the city itself but the surrounding areas. However, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin warned that traffic could be restricted in parts of the capital as part of the counter-terrorism operation prompted by the rebellion.
The counter-terrorism operation allows authorities to tighten security, impose curbs on traffic and communications, and to conduct searches without warrants. There was no immediate word of whether a curfew would be posed.
The mayor also declared Monday a non-working day for most people, with the exception of public servants and employees of some industrial enterprises.
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A popular Russian military blogger says the Wagner mercenaries shot down a Russian Ka-52 helicopter gunship in the Voronezh region on Saturday. Yevgeny Poddubny said both crewmembers were killed and posted pictures of the helicopter’s charred debris.
Russian media and military bloggers reported several purported helicopter attacks on advancing Wagner convoys.
Another popular blogger, a former military pilot using the nickname Fighterbomber, said that Wagner forces shot two Mi-8 helicopters and Il-18 communications aircraft of the Russian air force earlier Saturday.
The Russian military didn’t comment on the claims, which couldn’t be independently confirmed.
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A senior Kremlin official has warned that a successful rebellion by the Wagner group would mean the mercenaries getting hold of Russia’s vast nuclear arsenal and raise an existential threat to the entire world.
“The history of mankind hasn’t yet seen the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons under control by bandits,” Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies. “Such a crisis will not be limited by just one country’s borders, the world will be put on the brink of destruction.”
He added that “we won’t allow such a turn of events.”
Medvedev has frequently used hardline rhetoric since Russia sent troops into Ukraine, regularly reminding the West about Russia’s nuclear arsenal in a bid to discourage the U.S. and its allies from ramping up weapons supplies to Kyiv.
Medvedev described the rebellion as a “well-planned operation aimed at seizing power in the country.” He claimed that some veterans of elite Russian military units and foreign actors could have been involved in it.
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U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday about the situation in Russia. According to a statement from the White House, the four leaders reaffirmed their support for Ukraine during the conversation. However, the White House said U.S. officials were wary of weighing in further on the situation and “wanted to avoid any comment that could be misconstrued to suggest the U.S. was taking a side in the apparently internal conflict.”
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS:
Putin calls armed rebellion by mercenary chief a betrayal and vows to punish its leaders
Prigozhin, the mercenary chief urging an uprising, has long ties to Putin
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
