Mercenary Group Captures First City In Russia After Threatening To Topple Moscow's Military Leadership

Yevgeny Prigozhin vowed to overthrow Moscow's military leadership, as the Wagner militia were in control of the streets of Russia's Rostov-on-Don.

Security measures at some points due to the crisis between the Russian government and the security company Wagner, in Moscow.

Source : Getty Images

New Delhi: Wagner mercenary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin captured the first city in Russia, Rostov-on-Don, in the country’s first armed insurrection since the Chechen wars on Saturday, news agency Reuters reported. Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Prigozhin vowed to overthrow Moscow's military leadership, as the Wagner militia were in control of the streets of Rostov-on-Don, a city close to the Ukraine border.

According to Reuters, a Russian security source said that Wagner fighters had also seized military facilities in the city of Voronezh, further north on the road towards Moscow, where the governor said operations were underway to put down the mutiny.

Vowing to crush the mutiny, President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address, said, “Excessive ambitions and vested interests have led to treason. It is a blow to Russia, to our people. And our actions to defend the Fatherland against such a threat will be harsh. All those who deliberately stepped on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed insurrection, who took the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, will answer both to the law and to our people.”

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However, Prigozhin replied that he and his men had no intention of turning themselves in. "The president makes a deep mistake when he talks about treason. We are patriots of our motherland, we fought and are fighting for it," Prigozh said in an audio message. "We don't want the country to continue to live in corruption and deceit."

According to the Reuters report, in a series of messages overnight, Prigozhin asked Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov to come see him in Rostov.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former convict and long-time ally of President Putin, leads a private army that includes thousands of former prisoners recruited from Russian jails.