Russian paramilitary Wagner group pulled its fighters and equipment from Rostov-on-Don, where they had seized the military headquarters, said the regional governor, after the mercenaries’ chief Evgueni Prigozhin announced to go to Belarus and not face charges, after calling off his troops’ advance on Moscow. Read our blog to see how the day’s events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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7:20am: Chaos in Russia works in our advantage, Kyiv says
Chaos in Russia works to Kyiv’s advantage, Ukraine officials said on Saturday, but it remains to be seen whether President Volodymyr Zelensky and his army can capitalise on the disorder caused this weekend as mercenaries marched towards Moscow.
“Today the world saw that the masters of Russia do not control anything. Nothing at all. Just complete chaos,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address, urging Ukraine’s allies to use the moment and send more weapons to Kyiv.
The Prigozhin unrest, the biggest internal challenge to President Vladimir Putin as Russia’s paramount leader for 23 years, has spurred global security concerns and a frenzy of calls between Washington and its allies to coordinate actions.
“Any chaos behind the enemy lines works in our interests,” State-run Ukrinform news agency quoted Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba as saying on Saturday.
6:56am: Traffic restrictions still in place in Russia’s Moscow and Tula regions
Traffic restrictions remained on the M-4 “Don” major expressway in the Moscow and Tula regions on Sunday, the Federal Road Agency said on the Telegram messaging app.
“According to earlier decisions made in the regions, the restriction of traffic along the M-4 ‘Don’ (highway) in the Tula and Moscow regions remains in place,” the agency said.
Heavily armed Russian mercenaries who had advanced most of the way to Moscow on Saturday then halted their approach, de-escalating a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power, in a move their leader said would avoid bloodshed.
Key developments from Saturday, June 24:
The chief of the rebel Wagner mercenary force will go to Belarus and will not face charges after calling off his troops’ advance on Moscow, the Russian government said, easing the country’s most serious security crisis in decades.
The feud between Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and Russia’s military brass came to a violent head in the past day, with his forces capturing a key army headquarters in southern Russia on Saturday and then heading north to threaten the capital.
Within hours of Prigozhin’s about-face, the Kremlin announced he would leave for Belarus and Russia would not prosecute him or Wagner’s members.
It had been a dramatic day, with President Vladimir Putin warning against civil war, Moscow telling locals to stay off the streets and Kyiv revelling in the chaos engulfing its enemy.
The tide shifted suddenly when Prigozhin made the stunning announcement that his troops were “turning our columns around and going back to field camps” to avoid bloodshed in the Russian capital.
Prigozhin, who has feuded bitterly with Moscow‘s military leadership even as his outfit led parts of Russia‘s Ukraine offensive, said he understood the importance of the moment and did not want to “spill Russian blood”.
Read yesterday’s liveblog to see how all the day’s events unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
