The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, reported this morning that his troops shot down a Russian army helicopter.
“A helicopter opened fire on a column of civilians and was shot down by Wagner troops,” he said in an audio published on the Telegram messaging platform.
Shortly before, he said two Russian Air Force planes attempted to attack the column that allegedly entered Russia’s Rostov region, in the south of the country, and was heading for Moscow.
Rostov governor Vasily Golubev also stated in Telegram that “the situation requires maximum concentration of all troops to maintain order”.
“The police are taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the population in the region. I ask everyone to keep calm and not go out unnecessarily,” he added.
Authorities blocked the road leaving the regional capital, where armored vehicles were seen, according to the Astra channel.
VKontakte, Russia’s Facebook, blocked Prigozhin’s page, which had published audios of him challenging the Russian Defense Ministry.
The head of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced that his private army had crossed the Russian border in the Rostov region, in the south of the country, and said he was ready to “go to the end” after he had called for an uprising against the country’s military command.
Earlier, the Russian news agency Tass announced the introduction of security measures in Moscow.
Russia’s defense ministry also said Ukrainian troops were preparing for an attack near the eastern Ukraine town of Bakhmut, “taking advantage” of the chaos caused by Prigozhin’s call for rebellion.
The FBS announced an investigation into the leader of the paramilitary group Wagner after Yevgeny Prigozhin called for an uprising against the Russian military leadership, which he accused of attacking his fighters.
“The allegations made public on behalf of Yevgeny Prigozhin are baseless. (…) The FSB [serviços de segurança russos] has opened an investigation into an armed mutiny,” Russia’s National Counterterrorism Committee said in a statement, quoted by Russian news agencies.
Paramilitary group leader Wagner said he had 25,000 troops under his command and urged the Russians to join them in a “march for justice”.
“This is not a military coup, but a march for justice, our actions do not hinder the armed forces,” he assured in an audio message.
Prigozhin had previously accused the Russian military of carrying out attacks on his mercenary camps, which resulted in “a very large number of casualties”, allegations denied by the Russian Defense Ministry.
Prigozhin’s accusations expose deep tensions within Moscow’s troops over the offensive in Ukraine.
The leader of the Wagner group had already stated that the Russian army is retreating to various sectors of southern and eastern Ukraine, Kherson and Zaporijia respectively, and to Bakhmut, contradicting Moscow’s claims that the counter-offensive in Kiev was a failure.
Source: DN
