Hours after Yevgeny Prigozhin accused Russian military leaders of launching the Ukrainian invasion on a bed of lies, he essentially urged a rebellion against the current leadership. These threats were taken seriously, as video clips from Moscow reportedly showed police and national security units preparing for the city’s defense. Prigozhin founded the Wagner Group, a state-sponsored mercenary army that seems to be the modern-day version of Ivan the Terrible's Oprichniki. Prigozhin isn’t a military man by profession; he also has a consortium of restaurants, catering businesses, and technology companies, the latter of which have been identified for engaging in Kremlin-supported propaganda operations. Prigozhin catering businesses earned him the nickname: “Putin’s chef.”
Spencer wrote last night that he was determined to rid the Russian state of the “evil” embedded within its military. This morning, Sarah reported that Putin has allegedly fled Moscow. In the Lipetsk province, Wagner forces reportedly took over some cities in the region (via CBS News):
The governor of Russia's Lipetsk province said Saturday that the Wagner mercenary group has entered the region.
The Lipetsk region is about 360 kilometers (225 miles) south of Moscow and much farther toward the capital than Rostov-on-Don, where Wagner forces appeared during the night.
Authorities "are taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the population. The situation is under control," Gov. Igor Artamonov said on Telegram. He did not give details about the Wagner presence.
The owner of the Wagner Group, a private mercenary army, made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet on Friday, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia's defense minister. The security services reacted immediately by calling for the arrest of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin was taking the threat, security was heightened in Moscow and in Rostov-on-Don, which is home to the Russian military headquarters for the southern region and also oversees the fighting in Ukraine.
Armored vehicles belonging to Wagner supposedly were on the move toward the capital but have stopped less than 200 miles from the city (via Politico EU):
Fighters loyal to Russia’s Wagner mercenary group will stop their advance towards Moscow to avoid a devastating civil conflict, the group’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday.
In a voice recording posted to his Telegram channel, Prigozhin said his troops had got within 200 kilometers of Moscow in a single day, but that they would now stand down.
“During this time we did not spill a single drop of blood of our fighters,” he said. “Taking responsibility for the fact that Russian blood will be shed — on one side — we will turn our columns around and go in the opposite direction to field camps, according to the plan,” he said.
Moments earlier, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko issued a statement claiming he held talks with the outspoken oligarch throughout the day.
“As a result, they came to agreements on the inadmissibility of unleashing a bloody massacre on the territory of Russia,” the message from his office read.
“Yevgeny Prigozhin accepted the proposal of the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, to stop the movement of armed personnel of the Wagner company inside Russia, and take additional steps to de-escalate tensions.”
We’ll see about that. It’s not like the force that was gunning for Moscow was a massive military force, probably no more than brigade strength which is not large enough to secure a city like Moscow. So, there’s a pause, but how long was Prigozhin planning this action? It seemingly looked organized, as if preparations had already been made. With the bulk of the Russian military in Ukraine, the time to launch a coup couldn't come at a better time if that’s still what’s happening.