Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected Russian troops in state television footage this morning – his first public appearance since a failed mutiny by Wagner troops plunged the country into chaos.
Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on Friday declared a “march of justice” to overthrow the defense minister. The mercenaries captured the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and then marched towards Moscow.
Shoigu’s appearance appeared to be a message from President Vladimir Putin to the head of the mercenary group, signaling that the embattled Russian despot would not step down his defense minister despite the threat to his regime.
This comes after the Wagner mercenaries pulled back from the brink and returned to their base on Sunday, when Putin agreed to allow Prigozhin to avoid a charge of treason and accept exile to neighboring Belarus in exchange for de-escalation.
But while he was hailed as a hero by some, members of the Russian convict army uttered a threat against the Wagner warlord, accusing him of treason after he abandoned his coup against the Kremlin.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (centre) inspects Russian troops in footage broadcast in the country this morning – his first public appearance since a failed mutiny by Wagner troops plunged the country into chaos
But Shoigu, 68, who was out of sight on Sunday, was seen in footage released by his ministry earlier this morning (pictured) dressed in military uniform as he met Russia’s western force and received a report from Colonel-General Yevgeny Nikiforov
Shoigu’s appearance appeared to be a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured Saturday) to the leader of the mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin, signaling that the embattled despot would not step down his defense minister
Members of the Russian convict army (pictured) threatened warlord Wagner and accused him of treason after he abandoned his coup against the Kremlin
In a video posted online, a group of prisoners-turned-fighters said Prigozhin’s decision to withdraw before reaching Moscow was “cowardice.”
They said his supporters are now facing retaliation from the Russian military and that he has “doubly betrayed” them by forging an amnesty deal with the Kremlin.
According to The Telegraph, the video came from one of the Russian Army’s Storm-Z Brigades, made up of convicts who were offered pardons in exchange for combat operations.
While Wagner also recruited convicts from prisons under the same conditions, Storm-Z units are separate from the mercenary group. Despite this distinction, many fighters in the units consider Prigozhin the unofficial commander-in-chief.
Prigozhin, who was once in prison himself, toured Russian prisons to recruit fighters – promising them release in exchange for six months’ service.
In the video, one of the Storm-Z fighters claimed the Wagner boss was “leaked” at the last minute — Russian prison slang meant to imply he’s lost his nerve, reports The Telegraph.
“You promised everything to our boys, and our assault unit and others were ready to fight resolutely for you,” says the fighter straight into the camera. “Then you turned the steering wheel the other way.”
Prigozhin’s deal ended an extraordinary crisis after his private army attempted to storm Moscow — what presented Putin’s greatest challenge in more than 20 years of his rule, which risked overthrowing the Kremlin regime.
Shoigu is the first of three powerful Russian leaders whose divergent interests led to the Wagner group occupying Rostov-on-Don and seen since the end of the uprising.
He rejects coup plotter Prigozhin’s demand that he – along with army chief General Valery Gerasimov – roll his head over Russia’s faltering, 16-month invasion of Ukraine that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
Prigozhin has repeatedly blamed Shoigu and Chief of Staff Gerasimov for the deaths of his fighters and has expressed contempt for visiting the front lines in Ukraine while the two stayed in Russia.
Putin and Prigozhin have not made any public statements since Wagner’s withdrawal.
Still, Shoigu, 68, who was out of sight on Sunday, could be seen in footage released earlier this morning by his ministry. He was wearing military uniforms as he met Russia’s western force and received a report from Colonel-General Yevgeny Nikiforov.
A defiant Shoigu, fighting for his job, reportedly listened to “a report by the western group’s commander, Colonel-General Nikiforov, on the current situation at the front” and the “nature of enemy actions.”
Footage shows the Secretary of Defense studying maps and taking a helicopter ride to inspect Russian positions.
The footage shows Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (right) listening to a report on the military situation in the region, studying maps and taking a helicopter flight (pictured) to inspect Russian positions
Shoigu (centre) faced coup plotter Prigozhin’s demand to roll his head along with army chief General Valery Gerasimov
It was not immediately clear when the visit took place.
One picture shows the time on Shoigu’s watch just before one o’clock.
However, it remains unclear if his visit to the wartime command post took place today or yesterday – or if older footage showing him as the one responsible has suddenly been released.
Rumors are circulating in Moscow that 70-year-old Putin has nominated Tula governor and former deputy defense minister Alexei Dyumin, 50, as the next defense minister to replace Shoigu.
He is a trusted former bodyguard of Putin who once saved the Kremlin leader from an attack by a vicious brown bear.
He is rumored to have been involved in the pact that halted the coup march in Moscow on Saturday. And it is suspected that he is involved in secret funding channels of the Kremlin elite.
During the war, Putin didn’t fire a single one of his top teams – many of whom are now in their late 60s or early 70s.
The 67-year-old Gerazmov remains in office so far, although Prigozhin has called for his dismissal and even criminal prosecution.
Meanwhile, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Monday morning that he would end an anti-terrorist regime put in place during the Wagner mutiny in the Russian capital.
Sobyanin announced this in a statement published in the Telegram news application on Monday.
Russian media quoted local offices of the Federal Security Service (FSB) as saying similar regimes had been lifted in the Voronezh and Moscow regions.
Separately, Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said the situation in the country was “stable”.
The anti-terrorist regimes were rolled out across the three regions on Saturday as a column of insurgent Wagner mercenaries headed toward Moscow, firing at each other with security forces and shooting down Russian military planes.
Prigozhin was last seen in an SUV late Saturday, amid cheers from some locals, leaving Rostov-on-Don, where his fighters had seized a military headquarters.
Yevgeny Prigozhin (right), the owner of military company Wagner Group, sits in a military vehicle and poses for a selfie with a local civilian after retreating to the group’s base in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on Saturday
Members of the Wagner Group are preparing to withdraw from the Southern Military District headquarters and return to their base in Rostov-on-Don late Saturday
This came after he agreed to a deal to repel his coup forces marching on Moscow.
Some shook his hand through the car window. Trucks with armored vehicles and fighters on them followed his car.
Just hours after Prigozhin announced that his forces would be returning to the base to avoid “the shedding of Russian blood,” the Kremlin announced it was leaving for Belarus.
In return, Russia will drop the charges of “armed rebellion” against Prigozhin and not prosecute the Wagner troops, it said.
The Belarus deal removes Prigozhin’s control of Wagner, but it’s unclear if any of his fighters would follow him to Belarus, either out of loyalty or dismay at being inducted into the Russian military as contract soldiers.
“These personnel could potentially individually sign MoD contracts, demobilize in Russia — (or) travel to Belarus in some capacity,” think tank Institute for the Study of War said in its report on the failed insurgency.
If they were in Belarus, there would be concerns about gaining access to Russian nuclear weapons on the battlefield. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, was concerned they could gain control of Russian arms as the insurgency raged on Saturday.
“The world will come to the brink of destruction,” Medvedev warned, if the Wagnerians got nuclear weapons.
In their lightning-fast advance, Prigozhin’s forces took control of two military bases in southern Russia on Saturday and got within 120 miles of Moscow before retreating.
The mutiny was the culmination of Prigozhin’s longstanding feud with Russian military leaders over the conduct of Russia’s operation in Ukraine.
People in Rostov-on-Don cheered Wagner troops as they departed late Saturday, a scene that reinforced Putin’s fears of a popular uprising. Some ran to shake hands with Prigozhin as he drove away in an SUV.
But the uprising quickly failed, partly because Prigozhin did not receive the support he apparently expected from the Russian security services. The Federal Security Service immediately demanded his arrest.
Putin had described the revolt on Saturday as treason and promised to punish the perpetrators. He accused them of pushing Russia to the brink of civil war.
Later that day, however, he had accepted a Belarus-brokered deal to avert Moscow’s worst security crisis in decades.
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said he negotiated the ceasefire with Prigozhin. Moscow thanked him, but observers noted that intervention by Lukashenko, usually seen as Putin’s junior partner, was an embarrassment in itself.
Ukraine relished the chaos and ramped up its own counteroffensive against Russian forces, while analysts also said the deal had exposed weaknesses in the Russian president’s grip on power.
Zelenskyi’s senior adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted: “Prigozhin humiliated Putin/the state and showed that there is no longer a monopoly on the use of force.”
Russia stressed that the insurgency had had no impact on its flagging Ukraine mission and said on Sunday it had repelled fresh offensive attacks by Ukrainian forces.
Ukrainian soldiers who left the front lines on Sunday said the uprising had not noticeably affected the fighting around Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
“Most people, most of the military understand very well that the circus from Russia is still here,” said Nazar, a 26-year-old bearded soldier who is parked at a gas station on a road leading out of the Bakhmut area leads out.
However, Kiev said the unrest presents an “opportunity” for its long-awaited counteroffensive.
Wagner’s fighters, consisting of volunteers and former security officers, but also thousands of convicts, were often thrown to the front lines of the Russian advance in Ukraine.
The force also conducts several operations in the Middle East and Africa, largely with Moscow’s blessing.
A man sits on an armored vehicle in southern Russia as local residents speak to military personnel on the street on Saturday, awaiting news of Wagner’s march to the capital
Residents of the southern Russian city of Rostov take photos of an armored vehicle on the street Saturday, June 24, while chatting with military personnel
The US had information that Prigozhin had been building up its armed forces near the border with Russia for some time.
This contradicts Prigozhin’s claim that his uprising was in response to a Russian military attack on his bases in Ukraine on Friday, which he said killed a large number of his men.
The Ministry of Defense denied an attack on the camps.
US Rep. Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Prigozhin’s march on Moscow appears to have been planned in advance.