Wagner Group mutiny

On 23 June 2023, the Russian Wagner mercenary group engaged in armed conflict with the Russian military, following increasing tensions between its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Prigozhin described the rebellion as revenge for what he said was an attack on his forces by the ministry. He dismissed the Russian government's justification for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, blamed the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu for Russia's military failures and casualties, and accused him of conducting the war for the benefit of Russian elites. Prigozhin's forces took the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don with its key military headquarters, and reportedly advanced towards Voronezh in the direction of Moscow.

In response, the Federal Security Service (FSB) opened a criminal case against Prigozhin for "inciting an armed revolt". In a TV address, President Vladimir Putin called Wagner's actions treason and vowed to suppress the mutiny.

Background

Wagner Group and Yevgeny Prigozhin

See also: Wagner Group § Relationship with the Russian state, and Wagner Group activities in Ukraine

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Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group

Yevgeny Prigozhin was formerly sometimes described as a confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin and was his personal chef. In 2014, he founded the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company. Against the background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there was a sharp rise in the influence of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Wagner Group. The estimated number of Wagnerites grew from "several thousand" fighters in 2017–2018 to 50,000 fighters by January 2023, according to Western intelligence estimates.

Activities in the Russian invasion of Ukraine

According to news website Meduza, on the eve of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, Prigozhin developed tense relations with the Russian leadership, coming into conflict with both the Russian Defense Ministry and the Presidential Administration of Russia. Prigozhin criticized Sergei Shoigu for the actions of the Russian army in Syria, saying that the Russian military was operating there with "outdated methods." In turn, Shoigu did not like the provision of food for the Russian army by Prigozhin's companies.

The growth of the influence of Wagner Group was due to the failure of the initial plans of the Russian leadership to quickly defeat Ukraine. In the first months of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army suffered significant losses, but Putin delayed the announcement of mobilization for a long time. Under such conditions, the Russian authorities began to actively recruit mercenaries to participate in hostilities in Ukraine. Prigozhin received significant resources, including his own aviation, and the right to recruit Russian prisoners into Wagner. Wagner was seen as turning into a private army of Prigozhin, operating outside Russian legislation and outside the military hierarchy of the Russian Federation. The Russian Ministry of Defense and the Russian General Staff were unhappy with this situation and began trying to limit Prigozhin's growing influence. Prigozhin began to publicly criticize the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in harsh terms. On 5 June, as tensions escalated, Prigozhin released a video on his social media channels alleging to show a captured Russian colonel, Lt. Colonel Roman Venevitin of Russia's 72nd Brigade, admitting to have ordered his troops to fire on Wagner troops, allegedly while drunk.

Prigozhin's criticism of Russia's elite

Prigozhin frequently criticized the Russian military leadership for failing to do their best to uphold Russia's interests. He criticized Shoigu's children for "spending money aimlessly" while "ordinary people's children are coming back in zinc [coffins], torn to pieces" because of war. He warned that this "split in society" between the elite and the ordinary people could lead to the events similar to the 1917 Russian Revolution, with "soldiers and their loved ones" rising up. Prigozhin said that the Russian elite should send their children to war so people consider the things to be fair.

Prigozhin described "people who fly on their business jets to the so-called neutral countries to avoid participating in today's problems" as traitors. He criticized the Russian elite for enjoying "public, luxurious, carefree life" during the war. In contrast, to "survive as a nation", Prigozhin claimed that Russia should prepare for a "difficult war": introduce martial law, announce new waves of mobilization, as well as "get everyone we can producing ammunition" and "close borders like North Korea". However, according to Prigozhin, part of the Russian elite does not care about their homeland and therefore would not sacrifice their comfortable lives for their country.

Prigozhin attacked Russian oligarchs, who he accused of destroying the Soviet Union and taking control over Russia's wealth, while not caring about fighting for Russia's interests. According to Prigozhin, during the war "oligarchs try to steal everything, which belongs to the people".

Timeline

23 June

A video was circulated in Wagner-associated Telegram channels, which – according to Prigozhin – had been recorded at a Wagner camp that had been attacked by a missile. Prigozhin announced the beginning of an armed conflict with the Ministry of Defense in a message posted in the Telegram channel of his press service. He urged anyone who wanted to join the conflict against the Ministry to do so; accused Shoigu of using artillery and helicopters to destroy Wagner, and alleged that Shoigu had "cowardly fled from Rostov-on-Don at nine in the evening".

The Russian Defense Ministry denied accusations of attacking the rear camps of Wagner. After that, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation reported that a case had been initiated against Prigozhin under Article 279 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (armed rebellion). Generals Sergey Surovikin and Vladimir Alekseev appealed to the Wagner fighters, urging them to "stop". Russia's state-run First Channel announced an "emergency newscast", in which host Ekaterina Andreeva claimed that Prigozhin's statements regarding alleged attacks by the forces of the Ministry of Defence on Wagner's positions were fake and that President Putin had been informed of the ongoing situation. In response to Prigozhin's statements, Russia's military and national guard deployed armored vehicles in both Moscow and Rostov-on-Don.

During the night from 23 to 24 June, an audio recording was released on behalf of Prigozhin, who was claiming that Wagner was entering Rostov-on-Don and called on forces of the Ministry of Defence not to oppose his army. In another audio recording on 23 June, he said that the head of the General Staff of Russian military had ordered the country's air force to open fire on Wagner's columns moving among civilian vehicles, accusing the General Staff of disregarding lives of innocent people, "just as they have been killing their own population for a year and half instead of fighting the enemy". He also claimed that some pilots refused to carry out the General Staff's orders, and thanked them.

Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov described the ongoing situation as an "attempted mutiny" and stated that Russia's military agencies were day and night reporting on Putin's orders to him about the recent events.

Amid Prigozhin's statements, Russia blocked Google News.

24 June

In a new audio message released on behalf of Prigozhin, he claimed that Wagner fighters shot down a military helicopter that opened fire on a convoy.

Unconfirmed footage allegedly showed clashes occurring in Rostov-on-Don between Wagner and Russian military forces.

Prigozhin was charged by the Russian government with organizing an armed uprising after he threatened to attack Russian forces in answer to an air strike on his paramilitary soldiers. Russian security forces accused him of launching a coup attempt as he pledged a "march of justice" against the Russian army. Prigozhin posted a voice memo claiming that Wagner had left Ukraine and was advancing on Rostov-on-Don. Senior Russian generals urged Wagner's fighters to withdraw. Meanwhile, Russia's national security service, FSB, said it had filed criminal charges against Prigozhin and moved to arrest him.

According to Russian state media reports, and some Western media, Wagner Group forces have taken control of the Southern Military District building in Rostov-on-Don.

Mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, announced that anti-terrorist measures were being implemented in the federal city of Moscow. Rostov-on-Don is directly connected to Moscow by the M-4 Highway, which has seen reports of Wagner personnel advance in the direction of the capital. The government of the Lipetsk Oblast and the Voronezh Oblast has urged all civilians to stay indoors, following reports of military columns and clashes along the highway. Danish TV 2 documented that Google Maps at 9:59 a.m. Russian time had shown the M-4 as clear and at 11:15 rendered it as completely barricaded.

Social media posts showed footage of fighting between Wagner troops and Russian military in Voronezh, with Reuters citing Russian military reports. Voronezh is halfway between Rostov-on-Don and Moscow. Reuters cited a Russian military source which claimed that Wagner had taken control of military facilities in Voronezh. According to media reports, the Wagner took control of all military facilities in Voronezh.

Putin's address

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Russian President Vladimir Putin during his address to the nation about the Wagner Group rebellion

Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation for the first time since the beginning of the mutiny in a televised address, calling the actions of the Wagner "treason" and promising to take "harsh steps" to suppress the mutiny. Putin claimed that the situation threatened the existence of Russia itself and characterized the mutiny as a "stab in the back" amid the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, drawing parallel to the 1917 Russian Revolution and warning about losing territories. However, Putin did not mention Prigozhin or Wagner verbatim. Putin's assertion was a rebuttal to Prigozhin's previous claims that Russia was losing territories in the Ukraine war because of the mismanagement of the Ministry of Defence and that Wagner's actions against the Ministry were only meant to improve Russia's situation. Prigozhin stated that his main goal is to remove Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov from office.

Ramzan Kadyrov called the situation "treason", and stated that his troops were en route.

Prigozhin replied to Putin's declarations by saying that Putin had chosen the wrong side and Russia would have a new president soon. Prigozhin stated that the PMC Wagner refuses to obey "President and FSB", accusing the Ministry of Defence of betraying the Wagner Group at the Ukraine front, enriching themselves through corrupt schemes during the war, and stated that Russia was "fed up being run by corruption and bureaucracy".

Reactions

International

• Ukraine
  • Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the the mutiny was "just the beginning", saying that it was proof of infighting among Russia's elite.
• United States
  • On 23 June (24 June in Moscow), the United States National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge stated that the United States had been following the events in Russia and "consulting with allies and partners on these developments".
  • United States Senator from Florida Marco Rubio stated on Twitter that the mutiny will "have a significant and potentially historic impact", as well as noting that whoever controls Rostov-on-Don controls the majority of supplies to Russian forces in Ukraine.
• Iran
  • The Iranian Supreme Security Council's Nour News tweeted while Wagner is not a challenge for their military, the mutiny could be psychologically destructive.
• Netherlands
  • On 24 June, Wopke Hoekstra, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, tweeted: "Following the internal developments in Russia with close attention. Also in close contact with the embassy, which is doing everything in their power to get a clear image of the current situation. We inform our citizens by means of our travel advice and the information service."
• Kazakhstan
  • Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev released a statement on 24 June, saying that he had spoken with Putin and told him that "what is happening now is an internal problem of Russia", and that "[c]onstitutional order and the rule of law are the main conditions for maintaining the legal order in the country".
• Czech Republic
  • Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský stated that the Czech Republic closely watches situation in Russia and warned Czech citizens about travelling to Russia. Minister of Defense Jana Černochová stated that situation in Russia seems like civil war.
• Estonia
  • Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Estonia stated on Twitter that Estonia is following the situation in Russia, and stated that "border security has been strengthened".
• Sweden
  • On June 24th, Tobias Billström, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden announced "The government is following developments in Russia closely, serious situation."

Other

• 20px Russian opposition
  • On 23 June, Russian Volunteer Corps leader Denis Kapustin praised Prigozhin, stating, "Although we stand on opposite sides of the barricades and have a different point of view on the future of the Russian Federation, I can quite call him a patriot of Russia, without sarcasm or irony."
  • Exiled former oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky urged Russians to support Prigozhin, saying that it was important to back "even the devil" if he decided to take on the Kremlin."

See also

• Kornilov affair, a 1917 coup d'état attempt by General Lavr Kornilov against the Russian Provisional Government;
• 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, an attempted coup by Communist hardliners against President Mikhail Gorbachev;
• 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, a military and political conflict between President Boris Yeltsin and the Supreme Soviet of Russia.