Private militia gives Putin coup scare, backs off after Belarus negotiates deal

Sandeep Dikshit

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New Delhi, June 24

Hours after his men claimed to have taken control of Russian city Rostov-on-Don, which houses the country’s military headquarters, private militia Wagner halted its march on Moscow and ordered the mercenaries to retreat to their field camps in Ukraine “to avoid shedding Russian blood”.

The announcement followed a statement from the office of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko saying that he had negotiated a deal with Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin after discussing the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Prigozhin agreed to halt the advance in a proposed settlement that contained “security guarantees” for Wagner troops, Lukashenko’s office said. It didn’t elaborate. However, the situation within Russia as well as on its frontlines with Ukraine remained tense earlier after Prigozhin, whose militia helped Russia capture Bakhmut, led his men to take control of Rostov-on-Don. Videos posted on social media showed military vehicles, including tanks, on the streets of Rostov and heavily armed soldiers of the private army taking combat positions around the military complex. The Rostov headquarters manages the military operations in Ukraine.

Claimed control over city housing army HQ

• Before backing off, Wagner claimed to have controlled Rostov-on-Don, a city housing Russian military headquarters
• Wagner chief Prigozhin has for weeks been demanding sacking of Russia’s Defence Minister and Chief of General Staff

The area around the presidential administration near Red Square in Moscow was blocked, snarling traffic. The authorities declared a “counterterrorist regime” in Moscow and its surroundings, allowing restricted freedoms and enhancing security.

Responding with an address to the nation, President Vladimir Putin called the armed rebellion by the mercenary chief “a stab in the back.” Tass news agency reported Putin as stating that a civil war would not be allowed to repeat itself in the country. “All those who prepared the rebellion will suffer inevitable punishment. The armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders,” Putin stressed. Prigozhin, who has been posting video and audio bytes with rants against Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov for weeks, said, “This is not a military coup, but a march of justice.”

“The demandsapart from the dismissal of Shoigu and Gerasimovare unclear, the goals are vague. There is no public support for the rebels. Public support of the actions of the rebels by the enemies of Russia discredits the participants of the rebellion. The rebels also have no support from the bureaucracy and no support from the security forces. But there are sympathisers. There will be sympathy until the first serious battle. After that, the rebels will turn into terrorists,” said Ivan Lizan, a Russian analyst and economist.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia has opened a criminal case into the call for an armed mutiny. It also urged Wagner fighters not to obey Prigozhin’s orders and take measures for his detention. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow is suffering “full-scale weakness” and that Kyiv was protecting Europe from “the spread of Russian evil and chaos”. But Prigozhin, in a video later, called himself a patriot and said Putin was “deeply mistaken” as he wanted to punish Shoigu after Russian government forces attacked Wagner field camps in Ukraine with rockets and artillery. The tipping point may have come for Prigozhin when Shoigu asked Wagner fighters to register with the Ministry of Defence before July 1.

Putin’s ‘chef’ turns a threat

• Yevgeny Prigozhin, most visible face of Wagner, recruited Russian prisoners, feuded with defence ministry
• Prigozhin, 62, known as ‘Putin’s chef’ for his catering contracts, served long prison sentence in 1980s
• Started selling hotdogs before buying stake in supermarket chain; started catering company Concord
• Prigozhin admitted last September that he founded private military group in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea
• Wagner Group has fought in Libya, Syria, Central African Republic and Mali, among other countries

(With agency inputs)