So Far, It's Not Quite As Bad As Trump’s J-6 Insurrection But It May Get Out Of Hand
It started with a 30 minute bombshell video— or maybe a deep fake?— of Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. He claimed that there was no legitimate reason for Russia to invade Ukraine, no imminent security threat. He blamed the Russian armed forces for deceiving Putin, for poor planning and for “embarrassing” military defeats. His target was especially Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who he hates. He charged that “Shoigu killed thousands of the most combat-ready Russian soldiers in the first days of the war. The mentally ill scumbags decided ‘It’s okay, we’ll throw in a few thousand more Russian men as cannon fodder. They’ll die under artillery fire, but we’ll get what we want.’ That’s why it has become a protracted war.”
According to the Holland-based Moscow Times, he “also accused Kremlin-linked oligarchs of seeking to plunder Ukraine’s resources after its military capture and appointment of a puppet regime in Kyiv. ‘The task was to divide material assets in Ukraine. There was widespread theft in the [industrial eastern Ukrainian territory of the] Donbas, but they wanted more.’ Some analysts have interpreted Prigozhin’s latest comments as a sign of his growing political ambitions.”
He said the Russian army is retreating in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. “‘We are washing ourselves in blood. No one is bringing reserves. What they tell us is the deepest deception,’” Prigozhin said, referring to Putin and Shoigu’s claims that Russia is successfully pushing back Ukrainian counterattacks.”
Late today, the Moscow Times reported that Prigozhin is being charged with ‘inciting an armed uprising’ and that the Russian army has deployed troops and tanks on the streets of Moscow and Rostov-on-Don. Prigozhin accused the Russian army of ordering strikes on Wagner’s camps and killing a "huge" number of forces. “In a tirade against the Defense Ministry, with whom he has been feuding publicly for months over the handling of the war in Ukraine, Prigozhin said Wagner's leadership had determined that ‘the evil that the military leadership of the country brings must be stopped.’ Hours later, Russia’s Federal Security Agency (FSB) had filed criminal charges against Prigozhin for ‘inciting an armed uprising.’ The charges are punishable by 12 to 20 years in prison.”
"Prigozhin’s statements and actions amount to calls for the start of an armed civil conflict on Russian territory and are a ‘stab in the back’ for Russian servicemen fighting pro-fascist Ukrainian forces," the FSB said in a statement carried by state agencies.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin was aware of the "unfolding situation" around Prigozhin and that "all necessary measures" were being taken.
Shortly after 2:00 a.m. Prigozhin said Wagner's forces had entered the Rostov region of southern Russia, where he claimed Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was located.
"The Defense Ministry units which were sent to block our path stood aside... We will destroy everything that gets in our way. We move onward, we go to the end!"
High-ranking Russian officials who spoke to the Moscow Times on condition of anonymity warned against drawing premature conclusions as the situation is developing under the “fog of war.”
But a source close to the Kremlin said that Prigozhin's threats of revolt were the result of the competing military power structures that had emerged amid Russia's war on Ukraine.
"The problem is that in the case of Prigozhin, we got a classic example of two armies and many decision-making centers in the system," the source told The Moscow Times.
"The concern that this would cause problems was debated at meetings in the Kremlin and in the government. But the state management system in Russia has a lot of inertia— most in the Kremlin would throw up their hands, shake their heads and say, 'Yes, that's true. But it's not our business. Let others sort it out.’
“Now it's time to sort it out.”
Following widespread speculation that he had de facto announced an armed revolt against Russia’s military, Prigozhin added: “It is not a coup d’etat. It’s a march of justice. Our actions do not impede [regular Russian] soldiers at all.”
The Russian Defense Ministry denied Prigozhin's claims that its forces fired on Wagner encampments, saying they "do not correspond to reality" and calling them a "provocation."
It later claimed that Ukrainian forces, “taking advantage of Prigozhin’s provocation,” had launched offensive operations near the eastern city of Bakhmut.
Law enforcement authorities have stepped up security measures in Moscow, the state-run TASS news agency said around 1:00 a.m. local time.
In a video posted to Telegram by Andrei Rudyenko, a state-affiliated war correspondent, Russian General Sergei Surovikin called on Wagner fighters to lay down their arms.
“The enemy is just waiting for the political situation in our country to deteriorate. It’s wrong to play into the enemy’s hands during these difficult times,” he said, appearing haggard and holding a rifle on his right leg.
“We are of the same blood. We are warriors. I urge you to stop.”
The NY Times reported that Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev, the deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence agency, said in a video statement that “This is a stab in the back of the country and the president. This is a coup.” As of midnight Moscow time, “there was no sign of the whereabouts of Prigozhin, and… his social media accounts had been silent for more than an hour.
UPDATE: What Happened In Russia While we Slept
Apparently Putin has sided with the Russian Army against Prigozhin— and for the first time Prigozhin is directly attacking Putin. His troops have taken over the military headquarters at Rostov-on-Don without firing a single shot and part of his army is halfway to Moscow. The Russian Army apparently has no troops to stop them but helicopters are firing on the column. Every flight out of Moscow— regardless of destination— is booked.
Putin addressed the nation on TV today: “Any internal turmoil is a deadly threat to our statehood and to us as a nation. This is a blow to Russia and to our people. This battle, when the fate of our people is being decided, requires the unification of all forces. What we have been faced with is exactly betrayal. Extravagant ambitions and personal interests led to treason. All those who consciously stood on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed rebellion, stood on the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, before the law and before our people.” He called the Wagner Group’s “armed mutiny” a “stab in the back… I will do everything possible to defend my country … And those who have organized an armed rebellion will be held accountable. Those who have been drawn into this, I call on you to stop your criminal actions.” He then flew out of Moscow (at 2 this afternoon); no one knows exactly where he is now.
The FSB raided the Wagner Group’s headquarters in St. Petersburg and seized around $40 million in cardboard boxes in a van. Prigozhin said the money was to pay his mercenaries. Commenting on Putin’s televised address, he issued an audio note said Putin “was deeply mistaken” in calling him a traitor. “No one is going to turn themselves in at the request of the president… We don’t want the country to continue to live in corruption and lies. We are patriots, and those who are against us are the ones who gathered around the bastards.”
And, no the Wagner Group’s takeover of the southern military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don is not what Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) would call “a normal tourist visit.”