LIVE THREAD: Wagner chief vows to 'go to the end' to oust Moscow leadership

[mystery-ak]

Moscow braces for battle: Putin's soldiers batten down the hatches and build defences around the capital as they prepare for the arrival of Wagner militia forces - who are just HOURS away

    Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on Saturday declared his 25,000-strong force is in control of Rostov-on-Don and described his soldiers as 'patriots'
    Putin responded by calling his actions a 'betrayal' of Russia as he appealed for soldiers to put their weapons
    Prigozhin made the move in fury at what he claimed was Moscow's attack on his men, and said he intends to march to Moscow to take on defense chiefs
    Get all the latest updates on events in Russia on MailOnline's live blog here

By Elizabeth Haigh and Will Stewart and Miriam Kuepper

Published: 06:58 EDT, 24 June 2023 | Updated: 11:01 EDT, 24 June 2023

Moscow is preparing for war and battening down the hatches as soldiers build outposts and military vehicles flood the streets ahead of the expected arrival of Russia's Wagner militia forces.

Wagner chief Yevgney Prigozhin initiated a military coup against Putin overnight, which has seen the group take key cities and threaten the President, who called them 'traitors'.

Putin addressed the Russian people on Saturday, warning that the military leader had 'stabbed him in the back', as Moscow prepares to enter into lockdown, with troops digging in in preparation to defend the city.

Prigozhin and his feared 25,000-strong Wagner militia took control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, saying they are 'ready to die' for their 'march of justice', and have been heading north in a hundreds-strong convoy of armoured vehicles.

The unit passed through the halfway city of Voronezh and have reached as far north as Yelets as they advance on Moscow, seeing negligible resistance.

A message posted on the Wagner Telegram channel on Saturday said: 'Putin made the wrong choice. All the worse for him. Soon we will have a new president.'

more
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12229575/Wagner-forces-head-Moscow-Prigozhin-mocks-Putin-call-traitors-up.html

[bigheadfred]

 

[PeteS in CA]

Voronezh is about half way from Rostov to Moscow, and along a major highway. Yelets is about 50 miles north of Voronezh, and about 170-200 miles from Moscow. Whether the Wagnerites are being allowed to pass or there simply are no Russian forces in their path, they are advancing swiftly, so far.

[libertybele]

This uprising diverts and distracts Russia from Ukraine war

The crisis is Russia is likely to deplete Russian forces on the frontlines in Ukraine.

The Wagner Group was one of only two big, effective fighting forces on the Russian side, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said on an emergency episode of Ukrainecast.

"The only significant military victory that Russia has achieved - and even that is a qualified one - is the taking of Bakhmut... and that was the Wagner group. They're off the battlefield now," he said.

And Russia will need to divert resources from Ukraine if it wants to halt the rebellion, the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse said.

"The rest of the Russian military will now be in disarray, trying to figure out how to counter this domestic threat... rather than how to counter the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

"So one can only imagine that this will be good for the Ukrainian side."

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-66006142

[corbe]

   Seems appropriate.

Roads To Moscow Al Stewart


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjKajpMoUxM

[Texas Yellow Rose]

 

[txradioguy]

Putin's plane supposedly left Moscow a few hours ago.

https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1672572459076206592

Just so everyone knows...there are four of that model of the Il-96 configured for VIP service for the Russian President.  They're operated by operated by the Russia State Transport Company.


But yeah the optics don't look good for Putin on this.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Is Putin on the plane?

[corbe]

Russia coup: What is Wagner group and who is Yevgeny Prigozhin, once dubbed Putin's chef

by Associated Press
June 24, 2023 08:19 AM

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the private military contractor Wagner called Friday for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia's defense minister.

Russian security services reacted immediately by opening a criminal investigation into him.

He has previously bashed the country's military leadership for failures in the war in Ukraine, and is known for his long-running feud with the Defense Ministry.

A look at the 62-year-old Prigozhin and Wagner's role in the war:

WHAT DID PRIGOZHIN SAY?

Prigozhin posted a series of angry video and audio recordings in which he accused Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of ordering a rocket strike Friday on Wagner's field camps in Ukraine, where his troops are fighting on behalf of Russia.

Prigozhin said his troops would now punish Shoigu in an armed rebellion and urged the army not to offer resistance.

"This is not a military coup, but a march of justice," Prigozhin declared.

The Defense Ministry denied carrying out the rocket attack.

The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which is part of the Federal Security Services, or FSB, said he would be investigated on charges of calling for an armed rebellion.

The FSB urged Wagner's contract soldiers to arrest Prigozhin and refuse to follow his "criminal and treacherous orders." It called his statements a "stab in the back to Russian troops" and said they amounted to fomenting an armed conflict in Russia.

Riot police and the National Guard have been scrambled to tighten security at key facilities in Moscow, including government agencies and transport infrastructure, Tass reported.

WHAT'S PRIGOZHIN'S BACKGROUND?

<..snip..>

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/russia-coup-what-is-wagner-group-yevgeny-prigozhin-putin-chef

[Right_in_Virginia]

Who wants to tell the Pentagon the missing $6 billion has been found?

[mountaineer]

Who wants to tell the Pentagon the missing $6 billion has been found?

Could be.

[mountaineer]

Just so everyone knows...there are four of that model of the Il-96 configured for VIP service for the Russian President.

Of course, we have no way of knowing whether Putin was aboard. 

[mystery-ak]

Threads merged

[mystery-ak]

Wagner Group: What to know about Russian mercenary group in Ukraine
Yevgeniy Prigozhin claimed credit for founding Wagner Group in 2014 during the Crimea conflict

After a report indicated the Russian-backed Wagner Group deployed more than 400 mercenaries to Kyiv with the mission of assassinating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the private military company is receiving renewed attention from its past atrocities carried out at the behest of the Kremlin.

Russian businessman and Putin’s close ally, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, has claimed credit for founding and running the Wagner group since its inception in 2014. The Wagner Group articipated in the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has been considered a proxy group of the Russian state abroad, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

The group rose to prominence during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, deploying around 50,000 personnel to the front over the fifteen months of conflict, including 10,000 contractors and 40,000 convicts. Russian President Vladimir Putin increasingly relied on Wagner for results in Ukraine as the Russian military's own efforts produced minimal results and the conflict dragged on far beyond the initial projected timeline.

The Times of London reported early in the conflict that Wagner headed up an alleged mission to decapitate Zelenskyy and his government, and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko issued a 36-hour nightly curfew over the weekend, warning that any residents who go outside could be mistaken for enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups.

more
https://www.foxnews.com/world/wagner-group-russian-paramilitary-group-ukraine

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Just heard this Wagner wants to nuke Ukraine though…

[mountaineer]

Just heard this Wagner wants to nuke Ukraine though…

Do they have access to nukes?

[txradioguy]

Of course, we have no way of knowing whether Putin was aboard. 

Agreed...I was just providing a little context to the fact that Putin's version of AF-1 was leaving Moscow at the same time the Wagner Group is coming for him.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Do they have access to nukes?

If they topple Putin? Sure.

[Bigun]

https://twitter.com/JoeyMannarinoUS/status/1672608573237362688

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

https://twitter.com/JoeyMannarinoUS/status/1672608573237362688

What an idiot.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

https://twitter.com/JoeyMannarinoUS/status/1672608573237362688

@sneakypete

Well, here's the kind of guy who roots for the other side:

"Hell, I’d rather have Putin than Biden."

[mystery-ak]

Monica Alba
@albamonica
·
4m
Joint Chiefs Chairman General Milley has canceled his trip to the Middle East because of the situation in Russia, @ckubeNBC
 reports. He was supposed to leave DC today and travel to Israel and Jordan for meetings with his counterparts.

[American Girl]

Seems like there's no resistance.

I don't get used to this strength of Russia like they "seem" to be.

What's going on?

https://www.rightjournalism.com/breaking-video-shows-wagner-forces-as-they-enter-moscow-region/

[MOD3]

Merged threads

[mountaineer]

Konstantin Kisin
@KonstantinKisin
I would strongly caution people against celebrating what is happening in Russia. There have been fewer harsher critics of Putin's invasion but chaos is very rarely a good thing.

Prigozhin is not the only one with a private army in Russia. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has a large force under his command who have 0 loyalty to Russia or Putin. They hate Wagner but if Putin has to be rescued by them, why not take him out as well as take over the country?

Will the national guard fight for Putin? We don't have answers to any of these questions, and an armed mutiny in a nuclear nation is a big deal.