The last 24 hours have been a time of chaos inside Russia. The owner of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, headed for Moscow with several thousand mercenaries, taking, among others, Rostov-on-Don. However, several hours later, he gave the order to turn back. This was supposed to be the result of negotiations with Aleksandr Lukashenko, conducted in consultation with Vladimir Putin. Eventually, an agreement was reached between the Wagnerians and the Kremlin. All this took place in the shadow of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been going on for 487 days now. The Ukrainians, however, as reported by the deputy defense minister, advanced in several directions of the front at the same time. Here are the highlights of the last hours.
> Saturday was the day of the march of several thousand mercenaries of the Wagner Group towards Moscow. This happened after the owner of the group Yevgeny Prigozhin reported that units of the regular Russian army had attacked the Wagner camp, resulting in numerous casualties. He announced that he intended to “restore justice.” He called for no opposition to him.
> In a Saturday morning speech by the Russian president Vladimir Putin called Prigozhin’s actions “treason” and “stab in the back” and announced that “anyone who takes part in this rebellion will be punished.”
Putin on the Wagnerian rebellion: It is a betrayal of the state and the nation. A stab in the backTVN24
> Prigozhin declared on Saturday after Vladimir Putin’s speech that his fighters would not give up in the fight against the regular Russian army. After capturing Rostov-on-Don and taking over part of the Voronezh region, the mercenaries reached, as declared by Prigozhin, a distance of about 200 kilometers from Moscow.
> Alyaksandr Lukashenko’s office subsequently reported that Yevgeny Prigozhin had agreed to stop the mercenary march through the territory Russia. It was also announced that Lukashenko, in consultation with Vladimir Putin, had a conversation with Prigozhin.
> Soon after, Prigozhin reported that ordered his troops to return to their bases in order to avoid further bloodshed.
Prigozhin: I gave the order to turn back the mercenaries, there was a risk of bloodshedTVN24
> Kremlin spokesman in the evening Dmitry Peskov He introduced terms of the agreement ending the Wagnerian revolt. Russia is to refrain from punishing the mercenaries involved in the conflict, including Prigozhin, who was to move to Belarus. In the evening, the Wagnerians left Rostov-on-Don.
> The situation inside Russia is being watched by representatives of the Ukrainian authorities. The president of the country Volodymyr Zelensky he said that “the world has seen that the Russian authorities do not control anything” and that “it is in complete chaos”. “Every problem in the rear of our enemy works for our victory,” said the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmytro Kuleba.
> Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malar reported that Ukrainian forces advanced in several directions of the front at the same time, including towards Bakhmut in the east. She added that heavy fighting continues in southern Ukraine, where Russian troops suffer significant losses.
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/STRINGER