Prigozhin 3
It appears that this mutiny or coup or whatever it was will be wound down pretty soon. Reporting so far is that Prigozhin has only one to two thousand men and perhaps a company of armor. No air cover, and there are also reports that Alligator helicopters have taken out some Wagner vehicles. Obviously they’re getting nowhere at this point. Prigozhin did enter Rostov—escorted by Rozgvardia (National Guard) tanks and spoke with some Russian generals for an hour or two before departing. All this comes in the context of Prigozhin having made all sorts of wild claims that Russian forces were on the verge of collapse in Zaporozhye and his usual claims of MoD attacks on Wagner. The real motive behind this all seems to be the MoD demand that Wagner sign MoD contracts, which would strip Prigozhin of any influence. I don’t see how this can go on for long. Here’s the latest news I’ve seen—Chechen fighters have entered Rostov and the Russian security forces have issued an arrest warrant for Prigozhin and to raid known Prigozhin supporters and support locations:
-- GEROMAN -- time will tell - --
Akhmat's fighters enter Rostov from two sides. From the side of Aksai (north-eastern part) and from the side of the Red Crimea (north-western part).
Will Schryver
@imetatronink
Well that was the most lame attempt at a coup d'etat I've ever seen. A couple old tanks and a couple dozen trucks carrying a couple hundred disheveled "soldiers" in ill-fitting uniforms.
The modest parade was escorted by Rosgvardia into Rostov; Prigozhin pretended to "occupy" the city, then he had a chat with a couple generals, after which he and his motley group of "insurrectionists" drove away again.
Now Putin says they're all in VERY big trouble and will be dealt with promptly and harshly.
That's it, folks.
Show's over.
We will now resume the war where we left off a few hours ago.
2:44 AM · Jun 24, 2023
Another update on Rostov - most of the Wagner force seems to have departed, with remaining vehicles powered down and only a handful of Wagner and Rosgvardia troops remaining at the Southern Military District HQ building in the city center.
Here’s The Duran with a 45 minute video. Mercouris expects this to “fizzle out” soon, which seems likely to me:
Prigozhin Rebels, Wagner Enters Rostov, Voronezh, Russian Military, Gov, Society Rally Behind Putin
Putin himself made a strong and uncompromising speech to the nation, invoking Russia’s past struggles with internal strife in the face of external threats. Without naming Prigozhin, Putin spoke of criminality and invoked the imagery of a “knife/stab in the back”. He specifically recalled the disaster of 1917 that led to the collapse of the Russian army and the Russian state, due to internal squabbling. This is, as Mercouris says, “potent” imagery for Russians. The message is: order or disorder, and Prigozhin with his out of control ambition and antics represents the forces of disorder that Russia has always struggled against.
My take is that Putin still wants to end this with an abolute minimum of Russian on Russian fighting. The videos show a "convoy" that is made up of personnel transport vehicles, not combat vehicles--buses, pickups, troop trucks.
Mikael Valtersson
@MikaelValterss1
NEWS UPDATE WAGNER CONVOY TOWARDS MOSCOW EARLY AFTERNOON JUNE 24
The Wagner convoy of (initially) 170 vehicles are travelling north on the M4 highway. RuAF air assets try to stop them, but not by destroying vehicles but the road to minimise casualities.
On the map you see how far the convoyhas reached. On video 2 you see the general type of vehicles in the convoy.
On video 3 you see Wagner AD Strea-10 firing at a Ka-52 in Voronezh. On video 4 you se signs of (probably) FAB-500 on the M4 highway.
Wagner PMC Justice March (3 pm)
PMC convoys passed Elets, Lipetsk region (340km from Moscow).
PMC units did not enter Voronezh.
Akhmat units were spotted near Rostov-on-Don.
No further statements from Kremlin or Russian Defense Ministry.