Wagner’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin orders his Wagner troops back to their bases. He wanted to avoid bloodshed, according to an audio message from Prigozhin on Saturday. Previously, according to reports, his mercenaries were advancing further and further into the Moscow region. People were already extremely alarmed.
Online since yesterday, 7:34 am
Valentin Simettinger (text), Peter Pfeiffer (image), Birgit Samer (video), Iris Preißler (editing), all ORF.at/agents
“Our columns are turning and going in the opposite direction to the fields,” Prigozhin said in a voicemail posted by his press service on Telegram. So far, “not a drop of our fighters’ blood” has been spilled, Prigozhin said. “Now the time has come when blood can be shed.” That’s why it’s time to flip the columns.
Lukashenko as mediator
Immediately before that, the press service of the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko had announced that he had persuaded Prigozhin to step down. “Prigozhin has accepted the proposal of the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, to detain his armed men from the Wagner squad and take further measures to reduce the escalation,” the presidential office said in a press release, according to state news agency Belta.
Lukashenko, in consultation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, acted as a mediator, he said. Prigozhin did not explicitly mention Lukashenko in his voicemail. The Kremlin later said that Prigozhin and his followers would remain unpunished and that Prigozhin should remain in Belarus in the future.
Putin himself described his former confidant Prigozhin as a “traitor” in the morning. The power struggle between the mercenary boss and the Russian leadership escalated on Saturday night. Armed troops of mercenaries set out from Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia towards Moscow.
Putin called for severe penalties
In a televised address, Putin responded to the uprising. He confirmed that work in Rostov was “blocked by leading civilian and military bodies”. Furthermore, Putin announced severe penalties for insurgents.
The uprising is a matter of “betrayal” and a “mortal threat” to Russia. The Ministry of Defense had already asked the mercenaries to refuse to follow their boss.
Putin accused of “error of judgment”.
In reaction to Putin’s speech, Prigozhin refused to surrender on the orders of the Russian president. Furthermore, it was an “error of judgment” on Putin’s part to speak of an armed uprising. “We are patriots of our homeland.” He also said in an audio message that his mercenaries were fired upon by artillery and helicopters on their way to Rostov.
A state of anti-terrorist alert has been declared in Moscow “to prevent possible terrorist attacks in the city and region of Moscow”, the Counterterrorism Committee said. Security precautions had already been tightened.
How to stop a new escalation?
The war situation worsens. The struggle is not only continuing in Ukraine, power struggles are also destabilizing the internal political situation in Russia itself. Where is the war in Ukraine going? How can peace be achieved? And how can further escalation be avoided?
Discuss with debate.ORF.at!