Key events
This is Abené Clayton, contributing to the live blog from Los Angeles.
Vladimir Putin has yet to make a public statement about the situation with Prigozhin but has “has been informed about all events,” an anchor for State-run Channel 1 said at the end of a news bulletin.
Michael McFaul, a former ambassador to Russia described Putin’s absence as “striking,” in a tweet.
The absence of Putin so far in this crisis is striking. Imagine military vehicles cruising around in downtown DC and Biden saying nothing.
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) June 23, 2023
Pjotr Sauer
Russian security services have moved swiftly against the Wagner boss,
denouncing Prigozhin for “treachery” and ordering the mercenary
group’s fighters to detain their commander.
The defence ministry also published videos with several senior
military generals who urged Prigozhin to stop what one commander
described as a “coup.”
“This is a stab in the back of the country and the president,” general
Vladimir Alekseyev, the deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence
agency, said in a video appeal to Wagner fighters “This is a coup,”
Alekseyev added.
It was not immediately clear if Prigozhin was acting alone. In one
audio message, the warlord claimed to have the support of “the
majority of the army” as well as 25,000 Wagner fighters.
But Prigozhin for now appears isolated, with several former allies
denouncing his rebellion. General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy
commander of Russia’s Ukraine campaign, who is believed to be close to
Prigozhin, released a video address ordering the mercenaries to remain
loyal to Putin.
“The termination of Prigozhin and Wagner is imminent. The only
possibility now is absolute obliteration, with the degree of
resistance from the Wagner group being the only variable,” wrote
Tatyana Stanovaya, the founder of the political analysis firm R
Politik
“Surovikin was dispatched to convince them to surrender. Confrontation
seems totally futile,” she added.
While there was no immediate sign that Vladimir Putin’s hold on power
appeared threatened, Stanovaya argued that the dramatic episode will
likely damage his standing.
“Many within the elite will now personally fault Putin for letting the
situation escalate to such extremes and for his lack of a timely
adequate response.”
The deputy commander of Russia’s Ukraine campaign, general Sergei Surovikin, told Wagner fighters to obey president Vladimir Putin, accept Moscow’s commanders and return to their bases.
He said political deterioration would play into the hands of Russia’s enemies.
“I urge you to stop,” Surovikin said in a video posted on Telegram, his right hand resting on a rifle.
Pjotr Sauer
State-run Channel 1 has broken into regular programming for a special news bulletin. In a short message, the country’s best-known news anchor, Yekaterina Andreyeva, called Prigozhin’s claims of a Russian military attack against his Wagner fighters fake and added that a criminal case has been started against the mercenary head.
Andreyeva also repeated FSB’s statement, urging Wagner fighters to detain Prigozhin.
At the end of the news bulletin, the anchor says: “Vladimir Putin has been informed about all events.”
Here is a profile from January of Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former hotdog seller who founded the Wagner group.
Now, Prigozhin’s increasingly brazen criticism has led some to wonder where the ceiling of his ambitions might be.
“People from the FSB are furious about him and see him as a threat to the constitutional order,” said a source in the Russian political elite. “He has this big military group not controlled by the state, and after the war they will want their rewards, including political rewards.”
Others wonder if Prigozhin may have gone too far. His repeated raging at the defence ministry for trying to “steal” his victory in Soledar has at times sounded more like weakness than strength. After all, insiders say Wagner relies on logistics and intelligence support from the ministry of defence to continue its fighting, and Prigozhin relies on Putin’s continued favour to operate at all.
The businessman who knew Prigozhin back in the 1990s, looking at his old associate today, was certain of one thing: Prigozhin does not have an off switch.
“He understands that many hate him in the system … so he knows that if he stops, it could be the end for him. He has no choice. He cannot reverse.”
Russia says it will prosecute Yevgeny Prigozhin for alleged armed mutiny
Russia said it would prosecute mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin for alleged armed mutiny.
Russia’s FSB security service has urged Wagner Group fighters not to carry out criminal and traitorous orders at Prigozhin’s request and to take steps to apprehend him.
Local agencies carried a statement where the security service said the mercenary chief’s remarks amount to a call to start armed civil conflict in Russia, Sky News reported.
FSB calls on Wagner to ignore Prigozhin’s criminal orders and to assist in his apprehension. Multiple generals making videos calling on them to do the same
Armored vehicles are observed on the streets of Moscow pic.twitter.com/DB7yfcVzy2
— Dmitri Alperovitch (@DAlperovitch) June 23, 2023
Footage has emerged on social media of security being stepped up in Rostov.
Security was stepped up on Friday night at government buildings, transport facilities and other key locations in Moscow, the state news agency TASS reported, citing a source at a security service.
Prigozhin also claimed that the defence minister ordered 2,000 bodies of Wagner fighters to be hidden in a southern Russia morgue.
The mercenary chief went on to claim “the war wasn’t needed to demilitarise or denazify Ukraine” – and was driven by a desire to enrich the ruling elite and said that Moscow could have struck a deal with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the war began.
The Russian defence ministry has described the allegations made by Prigozhin as “untrue and an informational provocation”.
According to the TASS news agency, president Vladimir Putin has been made aware of the latest developments, and “necessary measures are being taken”.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, has accused Russian military leaders of targeting his troops.
He said the attack happened after he criticised the country’s top brass on the Telegram messaging app.
In a video, he had said the Kremlin’s rationale for invading Ukraine was based on lies and the “evil” of Russia’s military leadership must be stopped.
Prigozhin has since claimed the country’s defence ministry ordered a rocket strike on Wagner’s field camps in Ukraine which has killed scores of his fighters.
He warned his troops will move to punish defence minister Sergei Shoigu and urged the army not to offer resistance.
Prigozhin said: “This is not an armed rebellion, but a march of justice.”
