'Under control!' Wagner Group chief claims first major victory as Vladimir Putin scrambles to make urgent address
The Wagner Group touched down in Rostov-on-Don
Reuters
Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has claimed his first major victory just hours after imploring mercenaries to topple the high command of the Russian army.
Prigozhin, who is known as Putin’s chef, suggested the Wagner Group had taken control of the army headquarters in southern Russia’s Rostov-on-Don.
He said: “We are inside the (army) headquarters, it is 7.30am (5.30 BST).”
The 62-year-old added: “Military sites in Rostov, including an aerodrome, are under control.”
More mercenary troops following the Wagner Group chief's announcement yesterday
Reuters
Mercenaries will now look to blockade the city and threaten to march to the Russian capital unless defence heads meet them.
Rostov-on-Don is around 600 miles away from Moscow.
Prigozhin mounted his coup after alleging Russian troops had launched a missile attack against the Wagner Group during an explosive audio recording.
He said: "We’re 25,000 strong, and we’re going to get to the bottom of the lawlessness in this country.
Vladimir PutinReuters"Twenty-five-thousand are waiting as a tactical reserve, while the strategic reserve is the entire army and the entire country.
"Everyone who wants to, join us. We need to put an end to this disgrace."
It would also appear that some Russian troops have answered Prigozhin’s call for mutiny.
He has claimed 60 to 70 soldiers from Vladimir Putin’s ranks have joined his attempted coup.
Wagner Group
Reuters
Kremlin officials are now warning Wagner fighters they have been “deceived”.
The Russian Defence Ministry has told the Wagner fighters that they have been “deceived and dragged into a criminal adventure” by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Putin will deliver a televised address later today, state news agency TASS has revealed.
Russia's armed forces have been ordered to "neutralise" the "rebellion".
Russian President Vladimir PutinReutersHowever, chaos in Russia is seemingly being welcomed in Ukraine.
A top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested Prigorzhin’s coup was just the start.
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Head of the Office of President of Ukraine, wrote on Twitter on Saturday morning: “The split between the elites is too obvious. Agreeing and pretending that everything is settled won’t work.
“Someone must definitely lose: either Prigozhin (with a fatal ending), or the collective ‘anti-Prygozhin’ (Putin’s group and the ‘Ozero’ cooperative). Everything is just beginning in Russia.”
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