What happened during the attempted coup by Yevgeny Prigoyine and his men on June 24? A Wagner Group fighter breaks the silence and explains his role.
A group fighter wagner explained the role he played in this attempt rebellion against the Russian President Vladimir Putin. The mercenary said that the soldiers of the Russian paramilitary organization had “none”. no idea” from what was going on while their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin staged a coup d’état by conquest Rostov-on-Don then go forward Moscowon June 24th.
He says the soldiers received a call to join a retreating group Ukraine 23rd June. The call would come from a commander acting on orders from Prigojine and the Wagner Command Council. granting one rare interview The mercenary in question told the BBC that he was resting in barracks in the Russian-held Luhansk region of Ukraine when the call came in.
Rostov-on-Don, “this is our city”
Gleb (his name has been changed by our British colleagues) says the call told Wagner members it was a “full deployment” and that they were “forming a column,” claiming the soldiers didn’t know where they were going. According to him, they just met No resistance across the Russian border, when they drove towards Rostov-on-Don: “I didn’t see any border guards. But the traffic police greeted us on the way.” Gleb told the BBC that his group had been ordered to surround all police buildings in Rostov-on-Don before seizing the military airport.
Then his unit would have been ordered to take control of the regional offices of the Federal Security Service (FSB, Russia’s secret services). He reports that the building “appeared empty” when they arrived. But after half an hour, a door would have opened and two people would have come in and offered to “make a deal”. Gleb recalls replying to them, “What’s up with closing a deal?” It’s our city.” “So we agreed to leave each other alone,” he says.
The mercenaries advanced in a blur
As his men advanced, Prigozhin was reportedly at the headquarters of the Russian Army’s Southern Military District for meetings with senior military officials. There he asked Russia to extradite the chief of staff, Valeri Gerasimov, and the defense minister, Sergei Shoigu. Gleb explains that meanwhile, another column of Wagner militants led by the paramilitary group’s very discreet founder, Dmitry Utkin, was crossing Russia while talks continued. However, Gleb assures this The fighters were unsure of Prigozhin’s plans. And he said, learned of their leaders’ intentions via telegramlike everyone else.
On the evening of June 24, Gleb said he received a message urging him to do so return to base. On the way back, the Wagner mercenaries learned that their leader might be the target of an investigation and fled to Belarus. According to the statements of this soldier, Wagner’s fighters also learned that they would not be prosecuted for their participation in the mutiny. When asked about his future in the Russian paramilitary organization, Gleb says he cannot leave because his contract has not yet expired.