We're turning our convoys around and going back – Wagner Group leader
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, has said that his mercenaries are turning their convoys around and going in the opposite direction to set up field camps.
Source: Prigozhin’s video address
Quote from Prigozhin: "They wanted to dismantle the Wagner Group. On 23 June, we set out to march for justice. We have advanced over the course of the day, stopping 200 kilometres away from Moscow. During this time, not a drop of our fighters’ blood has been shed.
Now is the moment when blood may be spilled. Understanding our full responsibility for the possibility of Russian blood being spilled on either of the sides, we are turning our convoys around and going in the opposite direction to set up field camps, according to our plans."
Previously: On the evening of Saturday, 24 June, the press service of the self-proclaimed president of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said that he held talks with Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and that Prigozhin had agreed to stop Wagner Group mercenaries from advancing further.
"A perfectly beneficial and acceptable proposal for resolving the situation has been tabled and includes security guarantees for Wagner Group fighters," the announcement claimed.
Background:
- On the evening of 23 June, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that the regular Russian army had launched a missile strike on the Wagner mercenaries’ rear camps. He has therefore deployed 25,000 of his mercenaries "to restore justice".
- Prigozhin claimed that his forces had taken control of military facilities in Rostov-on-Don, including the air base, and were heading "to Moscow" and that his soldiers had shot down at least three Russian helicopters. Wagner mercenaries have also seized military facilities in the Russian city of Voronezh.
- In an emergency address on 24 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is "fighting for survival" and that attempts are being made to "organise a rebellion" in the country.
- On the afternoon of 24 June, Russian media reported that the Office of the President of the Russian Federation anticipates that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group fighters will likely reach Moscow’s outskirts in the next few hours, with fighting expected near Russia’s capital. Ukrainian intelligence has information that Putin has urgently left Moscow for his residence in Valdai.
- A Wagner Group convoy has been spotted 400 km from Moscow.
Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
