The Wegner paramilitary group withdrew its troops from Moscow. Photo: AFP
The Russian paramilitary group that rose up for 24 hours and began a march on Moscow from its positions in Ukraine withdrew from Russia this Sunday after an abrupt agreement with the Kremlin for its leader to go into exile in Belarus, a pact which dispelled the biggest challenge to President Vladimir Putin in more than 20 years in power .
Under the agreement, Prigozhin will go to Belarus, although even this Sunday it was not known for sure when he would leave Russia. Nor did it reveal where the head of the militia was currently located.
In the uprising, Prigozhin directly challenged the authority of Putin, his Defense Minister and the head of the Armed Forces, took positions in the city of Rostov of the Don, in the southwest of Russia, and from there he advanced with his men to less than 400 kilometers from Moscow. materialized.
Finally, abruptly, Wagner’s leader backed down and ordered the return of the fighters to their bases, after mediation by the Belarusian president, Alexandr Lukashenko, one of Russia’s few allies in Europe.
This morning Alexandr Lukashenko spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, published the Telegram channel Pul Pervogo, close to the Belarusian leader, quoted by the Russian news agency Sputnik.
*100015 * On Saturday, the two leaders held two telephone conversations.
They revolted for 24 hours. Photo: AFP
In addition, this Sunday afternoon, Lukashenko had a telephone dialogue with the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to examine the international and regional situation, but they did not report whether they addressed the Russian issue in concrete.
The mercenaries were withdrawing this Sunday from the Voronezh region, which borders Ukraine, local authorities said, ruling out incidents.
They also left the Lipetsk region, south of Moscow , added the authorities, according to the AFP agency.
However, in the Russian capital and its surroundings, the anti-terrorist operation regime established yesterday as a result of the riot, was still in force this Sunday.
*100027 * Impressive police patrols were still on the main routes leading out of Moscow in the south of the capital, TV channels showed.
Traffic restrictions on the highway between Moscow and Rostov-on-Don , the nerve center of Russian operations in Ukraine, were also still in force this Sunday, according to Avtodor, in charge of the highways in Russia.
In Moscow, Monday will be a holiday, decreed on Saturday by the city’s mayor , Sergei Sobyanin, on the situation.
Prigozhin said on Saturday night that he was putting an end to the rebellion to avoid a bloodbath.
Wagner’s leader will be able to go to Belarus and avoid be prosecuted in Russia, like its fighters, given the merits of the paramilitary group on the Ukrainian front, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov.
The paramilitary group played a key role alongside the Russian Army in the offensive in Ukraine, where he starred, for example, in the longest battle since the invasion that led to the capture of the city of Bakhmut.
For Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podoliak, Prigozhin humiliated Putin and the state, and demonstrated that there is no longer a legitimate monopoly on violence in Russia.
The decision was executed after mediating with the President of Belarus. Photo: AFP
In Rostov on Saturday night, dozens of people cheered the paramilitaries, shouting Wagner, Wagner!, as they left the city.
Although the terms of the agreement with Lukashenko remains unknown, according to his office, it was he who got Wagner’s boss to back down.
The Kremlin welcomed the Belarusian initiative.
Putin denounced a betrayal and warned of the risk of war civilian.
The United States and its Western allies, which support Ukraine, closely followed the development of the crisis.
Also on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said he spoke with his American counterpart, Joe Biden, on the aborted rebellion on Saturday.
We talk about the course of hostilities and the ‘processes’ that are taking place in Russia.The world must put pressure on Russia until world order is restored, the Ukrainian president declared on social media, hailing a positive and inspiring conversation with Biden.
The leaders discussed recent events in Russia, the House said Blanca in a statement.
Russian diplomacy yesterday warned Western powers against any attempt to take advantage of this rebellion to promote their anti-Russian purposes, in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine.
From abroad, the former Russian prime minister during Putin’s first presidency (2000-2004), Mikhail Kasyanov, assured that for Putin it is the beginning of the end, now he has a big problem, quoted the ANSA news agency.
Kasyanov, who most later an opponent of Putin, he is now seen by some observers in Moscow as the candidate some Western countries would gladly see in the Kremlin in a new Russia.
Moscow also assured that this mutiny would not affect its offensive.
Photo: AFP
However, for the US, this crisis reveals the real cracks in Putin’s authority.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said in an interview with CBS News today that the brief rebellion by Wagner’s mercenary forces showed a direct challenge to Putin’s authority.
I suspect this is a moving image, and we haven’t seen the last act, Blinken told CNN, adding that to the extent that Russia is distracted by internal affairs, it creates an additional advantage for the Ukrainians to take advantage of.
For its part, China backed the efforts of Putin to stabilize the situation in the country, as indicated today by Russian diplomacy.
Meanwhile, the president of Lithuania, Gitanas Nauseda said that NATO -Alliance that will meet in July in that Baltic country- must reinforce its eastern flank if Belarus welcomes Prigozhin.
In full offensive in Ukraine, Moscow assured that the failed mutiny would not affect its operations and would achieve its objectives.
The Russian Defense Ministry, Led by Sergei Shoigu, Prigozhin’s main rival, who has accused him for months of sparing the mercenary group ammunition and deceiving Putin, claimed that the army had repelled numerous attacks in eastern and southern Ukraine.
* 100083* In those areas, Kiev said on Saturday that it launched a new offensive and had made progress in the regions of Donetsk (east), and also Zaporizhia (south).
At least five people were killed and 11 others were injured by a Russian attack at dawn on Saturday in Kiev, according to the latest balance given by the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, quoted by the Europa Press agency.
In addition, a powerful explosion of a A car in Moscow would have injured one person, according to the independent Belarusian media Nexta, which published images of the overturned vehicle and added that according to the Russian media the cause of the explosion was the depressurization of a gas cylinder.
For its part, Ukraine, which took advantage of the chaos in Russia to launch new incursions, said a bombing raid on the Ukrainian capital on Saturday left five dead.
