‘Get out of our way’: how Prigozhin’s march on Moscow failed

The first armed uprising attempt in Russia in three decades began with a scathing voice-note left on the Telegram messenger app.

It was Chieftain Yevgeny Prigozhin who accused the army’s leadership of “murdering thousands of Russian soldiers” as a result of their disastrous invasion of Ukraine.

Prigozhin, head of Wagner’s group of mercenaries fighting for Russia in eastern Ukraine, had been complaining about regular army leaders for several months. But this time was different. Prigozhin and his men were about to launch an audacious march on Moscow to “punish” the Defense Minister and top army officers.

“The commander of Wagner has come to a decision. The evil being spread by the country’s military leadership must be stopped,” Prigozhin said in a short recorded message released around 9 p.m. local time on Friday.

In a voice full of anger, Sardar said that his men, numbering 25,000, would start moving towards Moscow from their base camps in eastern Ukraine.

“I ask everyone to get out of our way. Those who try to stop us, we will consider them a threat and destroy them immediately.” “This is not a military coup. This is a march for justice.”

Stunned officials scrambled to answer. Late Friday, the FSB security service announced that it had opened a criminal case against Prigozhin for “organizing an armed rebellion.”

Sergei Surovikin, a top army general, recorded a video calling on Wagner fighters to lay down their arms. An urgent news bulletin was shown on state Channel One and the anchor attempted to refute Prigozhin’s claims. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that President Vladimir Putin had been informed.

Security was tightened in Moscow and during the night people shared pictures of military vehicles in the streets. But the focal point of the rebellion soon became Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, home to the army’s Southern Command, which is in charge of the war in Ukraine.

The large port city is just a two-hour drive from the occupied territories in eastern Ukraine, where Wagner’s base camp is located. And by the early hours of Saturday morning, his mercenaries had arrived.

Wagner tanks and armored vehicles were seen throughout the city. Heavily armed soldiers came out and surrounded key buildings: military headquarters, local government buildings, the main office of the FSB.

Andrei, a local blogger, filmed the scenes while crossing town to go to work. “Rostov. at 9 am. People are getting scared, that’s for sure. Everyone is outside trying to figure out what is happening. , , Everyone is scared,” he said in the video.

They filmed the barricade set up by the police. Wagner’s men were guarding behind it. At another intersection, he found a group of mercenaries sitting in a pick-up truck with a machine gun attached to the back. The situation appeared calm, but Wagner had taken control of the city.

Prigozhin was filmed at the army’s Rostov headquarters, which had been seized by his forces, sitting down for a brief talk with Russia’s deputy defense minister.

In the rest of the country, officials began removing Wagner banners and billboards. Its head office in St. Petersburg, a gleaming glass skyscraper, was surrounded by police. Moscow and the Moscow Region announced that its security situation was being raised to an anti-terrorist level, including random ID checks and increased surveillance.

State TV programming remained regular, filled with entertaining morning cooking shows and series, but was interrupted by an emergency broadcast by Putin at 10 a.m. Moscow time.

The President, speaking to the camera, said “internal traitors have allowed their personal interests to lead them to treason”. Wagner organized the rebellion. “will be processed.”

As he spoke, a convoy of Wagner vehicles and fighter jets was moving north from Rostov towards the M4 highway that leads to Moscow. Tanks and other vehicles moved in small units.

By Saturday afternoon, the column was moving through the Voronezh region. The army tried to stop it. The news of the skirmish came to the fore.

The Voronezh governor warned that “operational and combat activities” were taking place in the area. “Frontline aviation is working on the M4 highway,” wrote the Ryber Telegram channel, run by the former press secretary of the Ministry of Defense. A helicopter was shot down.

Eyewitnesses from villages walking along the highway in the Voronezh region shared videos of artillery fire and explosions in the distance with combat helicopters above. Russians couldn’t believe the visuals: “Bombing Voronezh” is a popular meme synonymous with Russia being axed on its feet. Now, the meme had become a reality.

“It was really loud and scary, people’s roofs were blown off and windows were broken. As far as I understand, the Wagner fighters were attacked and were defending themselves,” said a woman from the village of Pavlovsk, Voronezh region.

He saw “two columns (of Wagner vehicles) about 3 km long” heading towards the regional capital of Voronezh. “They were so heavily armed that I have never seen such military equipment in my life,” he said.

Another woman from the eastern suburbs of the city of Voronezh shared video of a helicopter passing a few meters above her roof. He wrote, “It flew over our house.” “When we first read the news from Rostov, we kept calm and continued drinking shisha in our backyard. Well, it’s not a shisha-smoking environment anymore.

At around 1 p.m. local time, as a helicopter passed over an oil depot on the left bank of the Voronezh River, residents heard a loud explosion and saw flames. A tall column of black smoke could be seen over the depot from the center of town.

Several news agencies reported that Wagner units had “taken control of military facilities in Voronezh”, although no locals had seen paramilitary fighters or vehicles in the city.

“I took a drive in the city. There was nothing unusual, the roads were clear. The only thing I noticed was the queues at gas stations. People thought we were running out of gas because the oil depot was on fire,” said a man from Voronezh.

Meanwhile in Rostov, Wagner’s forces continued to hold the city. Some residents took selfies with the soldiers, others climbed onto tanks. Some mercenaries were photographed drinking coffee and buying takeaway lunches.

The army’s attempts to intercept Wagner’s convoy failed and it continued north. By 4 pm it had reached the Lipetsk region, 400 km from the southern edge of Moscow.

In areas north of the convoy, local officials rushed to find ways to stop the column from advancing. Roads were blocked by school buses and trucks. Excavators appeared on the highway and began to dig holes in the asphalt. The Oka River, which bisects the region just south of Moscow, became a major defense line for the capital. The bridges across it were blocked by the army.

The uproar caused mass consternation in Ukraine, where jokes about popcorn running out in supermarkets took off on social media. Politicians took pleasure in the display of Russian weakness.

“The tragic comedy of recent days clearly explains to the leaders of other countries why Ukraine today does not see it possible to negotiate with Putin’s Russia,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president. “The days of this gang are numbered, there is no master in the house.”

As the convoy approached Moscow, the threat of a bloody clash with the Russian army grew. But suddenly, as dusk fell, Prigozhin had a fresh message for his fellow citizens.

“In a span of 24 hours, we’ve made it 200 km from Moscow,” he said in a new voice recording on Telegram.

“Now is the moment when blood can be shed,” he said. To avoid this, we are moving our convoy.

Simultaneously, a statement was issued by the office of the President of Belarus, a close ally of Putin. Alexander Lukashenko had been in talks with Prigozhin all day at Putin’s request. He made a deal. Wagner would go back to his bases in eastern Ukraine and Prigozhin would go to Belarus.

As night fell on Rostov, residents saw Wagner fighters preparing to depart the city. The people cheered the mercenaries; “Strength to Wagner!” The slogans echoed. Prigozhin appeared and was greeted as a hero.

By Sunday morning, Wagner was back in occupied Ukraine, out of Russia. There was little sign left of the coup. The mayor of Rostov said militia tank moves had damaged 10,000 square meters of the city’s asphalt – work to restore the tarmac would begin immediately.

Additional reporting by Roman Olerchik in Kiev

The first armed uprising attempt in Russia in three decades began with a scathing voice-note left on the Telegram messenger app.

It was Chieftain Yevgeny Prigozhin who accused the army’s leadership of “murdering thousands of Russian soldiers” as a result of their disastrous invasion of Ukraine.

Prigozhin, head of Wagner’s group of mercenaries fighting for Russia in eastern Ukraine, had been complaining about regular army leaders for several months. But this time was different. Prigozhin and his men were about to launch an audacious march on Moscow to “punish” the Defense Minister and top army officers.

“The commander of Wagner has come to a decision. The evil being spread by the country’s military leadership must be stopped,” Prigozhin said in a short recorded message released around 9 p.m. local time on Friday.

In a voice full of anger, Sardar said that his men, numbering 25,000, would start moving towards Moscow from their base camps in eastern Ukraine.

“I ask everyone to get out of our way. Those who try to stop us, we will consider them a threat and destroy them immediately.” “This is not a military coup. This is a march for justice.”

Stunned officials scrambled to answer. Late Friday, the FSB security service announced that it had opened a criminal case against Prigozhin for “organizing an armed rebellion.”

Sergei Surovikin, a top army general, recorded a video calling on Wagner fighters to lay down their arms. An urgent news bulletin was shown on state Channel One and the anchor attempted to refute Prigozhin’s claims. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that President Vladimir Putin had been informed.

Security was tightened in Moscow and during the night people shared pictures of military vehicles in the streets. But the focal point of the rebellion soon became Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, home to the army’s Southern Command, which is in charge of the war in Ukraine.

The large port city is just a two-hour drive from the occupied territories in eastern Ukraine, where Wagner’s base camp is located. And by the early hours of Saturday morning, his mercenaries had arrived.

Wagner tanks and armored vehicles were seen throughout the city. Heavily armed soldiers came out and surrounded key buildings: military headquarters, local government buildings, the main office of the FSB.

Andrei, a local blogger, filmed the scenes while crossing town to go to work. “Rostov. at 9 am. People are getting scared, that’s for sure. Everyone is outside trying to figure out what is happening. , , Everyone is scared,” he said in the video.

They filmed the barricade set up by the police. Wagner’s men were guarding behind it. At another intersection, he found a group of mercenaries sitting in a pick-up truck with a machine gun attached to the back. The situation appeared calm, but Wagner had taken control of the city.

Prigozhin was filmed at the army’s Rostov headquarters, which had been seized by his forces, sitting down for a brief talk with Russia’s deputy defense minister.

In the rest of the country, officials began removing Wagner banners and billboards. Its head office in St. Petersburg, a gleaming glass skyscraper, was surrounded by police. Moscow and the Moscow Region announced that its security situation was being raised to an anti-terrorist level, including random ID checks and increased surveillance.

State TV programming remained regular, filled with entertaining morning cooking shows and series, but was interrupted by an emergency broadcast by Putin at 10 a.m. Moscow time.

The President, speaking to the camera, said “internal traitors have allowed their personal interests to lead them to treason”. Wagner organized the rebellion. “will be processed.”

As he spoke, a convoy of Wagner vehicles and fighter jets was moving north from Rostov towards the M4 highway that leads to Moscow. Tanks and other vehicles moved in small units.

By Saturday afternoon, the column was moving through the Voronezh region. The army tried to stop it. The news of the skirmish came to the fore.

The Voronezh governor warned that “operational and combat activities” were taking place in the area. “Frontline aviation is working on the M4 highway,” wrote the Ryber Telegram channel, run by the former press secretary of the Ministry of Defense. A helicopter was shot down.

Eyewitnesses from villages walking along the highway in the Voronezh region shared videos of artillery fire and explosions in the distance with combat helicopters above. Russians couldn’t believe the visuals: “Bombing Voronezh” is a popular meme synonymous with Russia being axed on its feet. Now, the meme had become a reality.

“It was really loud and scary, people’s roofs were blown off and windows were broken. As far as I understand, the Wagner fighters were attacked and were defending themselves,” said a woman from the village of Pavlovsk, Voronezh region.

He saw “two columns (of Wagner vehicles) about 3 km long” heading towards the regional capital of Voronezh. “They were so heavily armed that I have never seen such military equipment in my life,” he said.

Another woman from the eastern suburbs of the city of Voronezh shared video of a helicopter passing a few meters above her roof. He wrote, “It flew over our house.” “When we first read the news from Rostov, we kept calm and continued drinking shisha in our backyard. Well, it’s not a shisha-smoking environment anymore.

At around 1 p.m. local time, as a helicopter passed over an oil depot on the left bank of the Voronezh River, residents heard a loud explosion and saw flames. A tall column of black smoke could be seen over the depot from the center of town.

Several news agencies reported that Wagner units had “taken control of military facilities in Voronezh”, although no locals had seen paramilitary fighters or vehicles in the city.

“I took a drive in the city. There was nothing unusual, the roads were clear. The only thing I noticed was the queues at gas stations. People thought we were running out of gas because the oil depot was on fire,” said a man from Voronezh.

Meanwhile in Rostov, Wagner’s forces continued to hold the city. Some residents took selfies with the soldiers, others climbed onto tanks. Some mercenaries were photographed drinking coffee and buying takeaway lunches.

The army’s attempts to intercept Wagner’s convoy failed and it continued north. By 4 pm it had reached the Lipetsk region, 400 km from the southern edge of Moscow.

In areas north of the convoy, local officials rushed to find ways to stop the column from advancing. Roads were blocked by school buses and trucks. Excavators appeared on the highway and began to dig holes in the asphalt. The Oka River, which bisects the region just south of Moscow, became a major defense line for the capital. The bridges across it were blocked by the army.

The uproar caused mass consternation in Ukraine, where jokes about popcorn running out in supermarkets took off on social media. Politicians took pleasure in the display of Russian weakness.

“The tragic comedy of recent days clearly explains to the leaders of other countries why Ukraine today does not see it possible to negotiate with Putin’s Russia,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president. “The days of this gang are numbered, there is no master in the house.”

As the convoy approached Moscow, the threat of a bloody clash with the Russian army grew. But suddenly, as dusk fell, Prigozhin had a fresh message for his fellow citizens.

“In a span of 24 hours, we’ve made it 200 km from Moscow,” he said in a new voice recording on Telegram.

“Now is the moment when blood can be shed,” he said. To avoid this, we are moving our convoy.

Simultaneously, a statement was issued by the office of the President of Belarus, a close ally of Putin. Alexander Lukashenko had been in talks with Prigozhin all day at Putin’s request. He made a deal. Wagner would go back to his bases in eastern Ukraine and Prigozhin would go to Belarus.

As night fell on Rostov, residents saw Wagner fighters preparing to depart the city. The people cheered the mercenaries; “Strength to Wagner!” The slogans echoed. Prigozhin appeared and was greeted as a hero.

By Sunday morning, Wagner was back in occupied Ukraine, out of Russia. There was little sign left of the coup. The mayor of Rostov said militia tank moves had damaged 10,000 square meters of the city’s asphalt – work to restore the tarmac would begin immediately.

Additional reporting by Roman Olerchik in Kiev