An Armed Mutiny Broke Out In Russia, Almost Reached Moscow But Was Abruptly Stopped. Why?
The mutiny has been described as the biggest challenge to Putin’s 23-year rule.
In a stunning 36 hours, an armed mutiny broke out in Russia, got within 200 kilometers of Moscow and was abruptly stopped.
Here’s how it all went down.
On Friday June 23, the leader of the Wagner private military group, which has been fighting alongside Russia, filmed a video where he questioned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying it was based on lies.
Yevgeny Prigozhin said that the Russian government had tried to deceive the public by saying that there was “crazy aggression from Ukraine” and that it was trying to attack Russia “with the whole of NATO.”
He also said that Russian forces had launched an airstrike that killed a “huge” number of Wagner forces and vowed to stop the “the evil that Russia’s military leadership brings.”
Following Prigozhin’s announcement, Russia ordered his arrest on charges of armed rebellion.
At the same time, the Wagner group withdrew from Ukraine, occupied the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and started heading for Moscow.
The next morning on Saturday June 24, Russian president Vladimir Putin made a nationwide address, where he called the armed rebellion “treason” and “a knife in the back of Russia and its people”, adding that those who betrayed Russia would pay.
By this point, the Wagner group was more than half way to Moscow.
A few hours later in the afternoon, an airplane used by Putin left Moscow for St. Petersburg, according to Flightradar24.
However, a Kremlin spokesperson said Putin had not fled and remained in Moscow.
Suddenly, at 8:30pm on Saturday, Belarus’ president Aleksander Lukashenko announced that he had brokered a deal with Prigozhin to stop the uprising.
Prigozhin said his forces had come within 200 kilometers of Moscow but was turning back to “prevent bloodshed”.
Wagner forces then started withdrawing from Rostov-on-Don.
The Kremlin said Prigozhin will move to Belarus as part of the deal, and all charges against him will be dropped.
Wagner troops who participated in the rebellion will also receive amnesty, and other Wagner troops will be offered contracts to join the Russian military.
The mutiny has been widely described as a hit to Putin’s strongman image and the biggest challenge to his 23-year rule.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the rebellion showed the Russian government’s weakness and inability to control the situation.
