The owner of the private military contractor, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced that his forces have successfully entered the city of Rostov in Russia without encountering any resistance. According to Prigozhin, Wagner field camps were targeted with rockets, helicopter gunships, and artillery fire on the orders of General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the military’s General Staff. Prigozhin alleges that Gerasimov issued the order following a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, where they agreed to dismantle Wagner. Prigozhin claims that the Wagner troops were welcomed by border guards as they moved into the Rostov region and are now advancing into the city without opposition. Prigozhin emphasized that his forces are not fighting against young conscripts stationed at checkpoints but warned that anyone standing in their way will be destroyed. He affirmed that they will continue to move forward until their mission is accomplished.
In a breaking news update, Prigozhin escalated his defiance against the Kremlin by calling for an armed uprising to remove Russia’s defense minister from power. Immediately, the security services responded by launching a criminal investigation into Prigozhin and calling for his arrest. Prigozhin uploaded several enraged video and audio recordings in which he accused Defense Minister Shoigu of orchestrating a rocket strike on Wagner’s field camps in Ukraine, where his troops are fighting on behalf of Russia. Prigozhin stated that his troops would seek retribution against Shoigu through an armed rebellion and urged the army not to resist. He emphasized that this was not a military coup but a march for justice.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, part of the Federal Security Services (FSB), announced that they would investigate Prigozhin for inciting an armed rebellion. The FSB urged Wagner’s contract soldiers to arrest Prigozhin and reject his criminal and treacherous orders. They denounced his statements as a betrayal to Russian troops and accused him of instigating an armed conflict within Russia. In response to the seriousness of the situation, riot police and the National Guard have been deployed to bolster security at critical facilities in Moscow, including government agencies and transportation infrastructure.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has been briefed on the situation, and necessary measures are being taken, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Wagner’s forces have played a crucial role in Russia’s war in Ukraine, particularly in capturing the city of Bakhmut, where the most intense and protracted battles have occurred. Prigozhin has frequently criticized Russia’s military leadership, accusing them of incompetence and neglecting his troops’ needs for weapons and ammunition. However, his recent accusations and call for armed rebellion represent a more direct challenge.
The Russian Defense Ministry mandated that all military contractors sign contracts with them before July 1. However, Prigozhin, known for his longstanding feud with the Defense Ministry, refused to comply. In a late-night statement, Prigozhin expressed his willingness to find common ground with the Defense Ministry but claimed they deceived him. He alleged that rocket strikes were carried out on their rear camps, resulting in numerous casualties. The Defense Ministry denies attacking the Wagner camps.
Prigozhin alleged that Defense Minister Shoigu personally oversaw the strike on Wagner, claiming that Shoigu then fled in a cowardly manner. He vowed to stop Shoigu, referring to him as scum, and asserted that the corrupt military leadership must be halted. Prigozhin urged the army not to oppose Wagner’s quest for justice. Security measures were heightened in Rostov-on-Don, with military and law enforcement personnel patrolling the streets and armored vehicles present.
Colonel General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of the Russian group of forces fighting in Ukraine, urged Wagner forces to refrain from acting against the army, as it would only benefit Russia’s enemies who seek to exploit internal political unrest. Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev denounced Prigozhin’s actions as madness and warned of the potential for civil war in Russia. He stressed that Prigozhin’s actions were a severe blow to the country’s image and its armed forces, accusing him of staging this provocation as an enemy of Russia.
The Russian Defense Ministry released a statement claiming that the Ukrainian military is massing troops for an attack around Bakhmut, capitalizing on Prigozhin’s provocation. It stated that Russian artillery and warplanes were targeting Ukrainian forces preparing to launch an offensive in the area.
In other developments within Ukraine’s war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on other nations to pay attention to warnings of a potential Russian attack on the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which could result in a radiation catastrophe. Zelenskyy expects other countries to put pressure on Moscow to prevent such an event. The Kremlin’s spokesperson denied that the threat to the plant comes from Russian forces.
The risk of a dangerous radiation release has been a concern since Russian troops invaded Ukraine and seized the power plant last year. The U.N.’s atomic energy agency attempted to establish a safety perimeter to protect the facility but was unsuccessful due to ongoing fighting. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that the military situation has become increasingly tense in the region where the plant is located.
While Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations about escalating threats to the plant, Ukrainian officials recently accused Russia of mining the cooling system, which was already at risk due to a dam collapse. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar stated that Russia has strengthened its defense forces in southern Ukraine and intensified its efforts to expand its control in the east. Ukrainian forces have made limited advances in Zaporizhzhia province, one of the regions illegally annexed by Russia. Zelenskyy has emphasized that Ukraine is fighting to remove Russian troops from these regions and Crimea, which Russia unlawfully annexed in 2014. Should the counteroffensive break through Russian defenses in the south, Ukrainian forces may attempt to capture occupied port cities on the Sea of Azov and sever Russia’s land bridge to Crimea.
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