Late at night on June 23, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the private paramilitary organization of Russia’s Wagner Group, released a video announcing that his troops would march into Moscow to “punish” the leadership, especially Russia’s Ministry of Defense, and “restore justice.” He claimed that Russian forces launched a missile attack on Wagner’s assets, following long-standing complaints about a lack of weapons supplies. “We have 25,000 people and we’re going to figure out why this mess is happening in this country,” he said. Prigorzhin added that this number “is the tactical reserve, but the strategic reserve is our entire army and our entire country. Everyone can join us if they want.” The Wagner Group has played a central role in Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine , including spearheading the months-long battle to capture the mayor of Bakhmut. While Ukrainian forces are largely recruited from Russian prisons, the group also has a widespread presence, providing security-related services to partners around the world from Venezuela and Mali to Syria and the Central African Republic, whose forces are largely staffed by veterans composition.
Wagner’s troops were reported to be marching on the Russian capital, but reactions around the world varied widely. The jubilation in the West, and in Ukraine in particular, is often hard to hide, with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavski tweeting: “I see my summer vacation in Crimea is coming”, referring to the West and Ukraine. Ukraine’s desire to regain its strategic position. Located on the peninsula, it was incorporated into Russia in 2014. This is in line with the position of Prague, and the wider Eastern European countries, to make more blunt and tough statements against Western opponents, including Russia. Ukrainian intelligence chief Kirill Budanov praised Prigozhin for “telling the truth” due to his criticism of the Russian government. Multiple Western sources, including Politico, reported that the attempted coup would allow Ukraine to reinvigorate Its stalled offensive, citing senior U.S. and other Western officials who agree it offers “unprecedented opportunities for progress. U.S. Congressman Jason Crow and others stressed that Kiev “should act quickly to capitalize on” the chaos. The U.S. State Department specifically delayed plans to impose further economic sanctions on the Wagner Group, currently the hardest-hit private sector announcement. Enterprise One. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, canceled a planned trip to the Middle East to monitor events unfolding in Moscow from Washington.
Western internet sources, especially the pro-Ukraine Telegram channel, have spread a range of extreme claims, including that Russian President Vladimir Putin has fled Moscow, or that Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops have been deployed to the Russian capital to reinforce the government. CNN described Wagner as a “dark, mercenary Frankenstein . . . that has betrayed its master” and predicted that his actions would “alter the course of the war in Kiev’s favor.” . The report predicts that “from this moment on, the Putin regime will return to its previous heights of control… There will be further upheavals and changes in the future”, which reflects a broad consensus in the Western world. At the same time, the British “Financial Times” reported: “It is hard to believe that Putin can finally survive this humiliation…His prestige, his power, and even his life are now at stake.” The British “Telegraph”, etc. Other media outlets claim that Western powers are considering a significant escalation of operations in Ukraine to take advantage of the chaotic situation in Ukraine, and attribute the possibility of a coup to the nature of Russia’s political system and its lack of adequate Westernized reforms.
Ultimately, the unrest surrounding Prigorzhin’s march into Moscow lasted a little more than 24 hours, and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko stepped in to mediate, offering Wagner’s leadership the chance to step down peacefully. After accepting the offer, Prigozhin will retire to Belarus. Under the arrangement, Prigozhin and the Wagner fighters would not be prosecuted. Belarus has long provided mediation services between Moscow and its adversaries, including with Ukraine over the years. The short-lived nature of the coup attempt has sparked widespread speculation that it may have been a staged operation, possibly to test loyalties within the Russian government and root out those who failed to stand with Vladimir Putin’s government. people – including the Department of Defense. Responsible for the defense of Moscow. If successful, the coup attempt may actually strengthen rather than weaken the government. Contrary to reports of a phased operation, unconfirmed reports from sources allied with Russia suggest that British intelligence played a role in turning Wagner’s leadership against Moscow, possibly through assurances and carefully selected intelligence that they would Get support from within the military, while others may get support from the military. U.S. intelligence agencies have also provided $6.2 billion to supplement those assurances, the report said. None of these reports have been confirmed, but have further fueled speculation about the nature of the apparent coup attempt.