Take this with a bucket of salt, but the notorious troll, ex-convict and mercenary leader Yevgeni Prigozhin just announced the following:
1. On June 23, his mercenaries (The Wagner group) were attacked by the Russian army, with massive casualties.
2. The Wagner group is going to “restore justice” in Russia and invites “all the willing” to join.
3. Prigozhin says (my translation),
There are 25 thousand of us, and we are going to figure out why chaos is happening in the country.25 thousand are expected as a tactical reserve, and the strategic reserve is the whole army and the whole country.Anyone who wants can join.We need to end this mess. [...] Anyone who resists, will be considered as a threat - and destroyed immediately.Including any roadblocks on our way.I ask everyone to remain calm, not to succumb to provocations, and to stay home.It is advisable not to go outside along our route.
Okay, ̶s̶e̶v̶e̶r̶a̶l̶̶T̶e̶l̶e̶g̶r̶a̶m̶̶b̶l̶o̶g̶g̶e̶r̶s̶̶i̶n̶̶M̶o̶s̶c̶o̶w̶̶a̶r̶e̶̶r̶e̶p̶o̶r̶t̶i̶n̶g̶̶g̶u̶n̶f̶i̶r̶e̶̶n̶e̶a̶r̶̶t̶h̶e̶̶s̶u̶b̶w̶a̶y̶̶s̶t̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶̶P̶r̶o̶f̶s̶o̶y̶u̶z̶n̶a̶y̶a̶̶—̶̶t̶h̶a̶t̶’̶s̶̶w̶a̶l̶k̶i̶n̶g̶̶d̶i̶s̶t̶a̶n̶c̶e̶̶t̶o̶̶t̶h̶e̶̶K̶r̶e̶m̶l̶i̶n̶.̶.̶.̶̶ This is confirmed rubbish, just asked somebody who lives close by. Somebody else might be panicking a little bit...
Given who is the instigator (he is known for setting up “troll factories,”) this could be an elaborate misinformation piece. Or the real deal.
Mobile Internet in Moscow is partially offline.
Alexei Venediktov (former director of now-banned Echo Moskvy radio) just posted to his Telegram channel (https://t.me/aavst2022) that he suspects a provocation to declare a national emergency. He posted an update with a scenario he finds plausible: somebody leaked a rumor about Prigozhin’s arrest to Prigozhin, provoking him to act. This may be giving too much credit to Putin’s wit (I think Venediktov did that before on several occasions).
It’s not just Moscow, there are APCs in the center of Rostov.
BBC reports Prigozhin has been charged with ̶m̶u̶t̶i̶n̶y̶ (he cannot be charged with that, since Wagner group is not a part of Russian armed forces, it does not even officially exist) armed rebellion, FSB is being called to duty in Moscow, there are armed roadblocks on the Don highway (Rostov-Voronezh-Moscow): www.bbc.com/…
Shit is getting real?
Specific charges against Prigozhin:
The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation reported that the case against Prigozhin was initiated under Article 279 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (armed rebellion).
So, it is considered an attempted coup now by the Russian government. Or they want us to believe there is an attempted coup.
Just talked to a friend living in the center of Moscow — no gunfire heard (she’s on the other side from the center than Profsoyuznaya though), connection kept dropping.
A local Telegram channel in Donetsk (I don’t find it very trustworthy - https://t.me/hdonetsk) is reporting that the border between Donetsk People’s Republic and Russia is also closed, which I find confusing, technically there should be no border — this territory was officially annexed. BBC just confirmed this, there are now roadblocks and lines of cars kilometers long.
The APCs in the center of Rostov belong to Russia’s analogs of SWAT implementing plan “Fortress”— similar deployments likely underway in Moscow: www.bbc.com/…
A video widely shared on Telegram (I cannot vouch for its veracity) purports to show a hacked channel broadcast in Russia with Prigozhin’s speech. More armor is being deployed in Rostov (I do not universally trust this source: https://t.me/bazabazon), the city center is now blocked off. A pro-Ukrainian channel (https://t.me/informnapalm) now shares an audio address from Prigozhin (I partially quote from the same address in the opening), claiming Shoigu has abandoned Rostov. Among other claims: this is not a coup, this is a march for justice, most of the military support us.
Moscow Duma (parliament) is being circled by patrols on APCs (this is firsthand from another friend). Yet another friend decided to take a stroll through nighttime Moscow right now (1:15 am Moscow time), along with a surprising number of other people. Pedestrians are not impeded, provided they don’t come close to the Ministry of Defense, Red Square, etc. On the other hand, only around 25% to 33% of Moscow Internet users now have access to Google news (globalcheck.net data, I confirmed the result, hat tip to Alexander Gorbunov (StalinGulag) for noticing, this is a person I trust). People with access are using T2 Mobile, two Russian companies (MTS and Beeline) are blocking traffic. Alexander is so cheerful: “a horrible end is preferrable to unending horror” (https://t.me/stalin_gulag).
Just a column of military trucks rolling through Moscow near Kremlin right now (1:58 am Moscow time)
This still could be a provocation to declare national emergency. ̶A̶s̶̶o̶f̶̶n̶o̶w̶,̶̶a̶l̶l̶̶t̶h̶e̶̶t̶r̶o̶o̶p̶s̶̶a̶n̶d̶̶a̶r̶m̶o̶r̶̶i̶n̶̶t̶h̶e̶̶s̶t̶r̶e̶e̶t̶s̶̶(̶M̶o̶s̶c̶o̶w̶,̶̶R̶o̶s̶t̶o̶v̶,̶̶B̶e̶l̶g̶o̶r̶o̶d̶?̶)̶̶a̶r̶e̶̶g̶o̶v̶e̶r̶n̶m̶e̶n̶t̶̶f̶o̶r̶c̶e̶s̶,̶̶a̶n̶d̶̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶̶a̶r̶e̶̶n̶o̶̶c̶l̶e̶a̶r̶̶r̶e̶p̶o̶r̶t̶s̶̶o̶f̶̶W̶a̶g̶n̶e̶r̶̶g̶r̶o̶u̶p̶̶a̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶l̶y̶̶d̶e̶p̶l̶o̶y̶i̶n̶g̶̶a̶n̶y̶w̶h̶e̶r̶e̶.̶̶T̶h̶e̶̶o̶n̶l̶y̶̶m̶e̶n̶t̶i̶o̶n̶̶o̶f̶̶W̶a̶g̶n̶e̶r̶i̶t̶e̶s̶̶o̶n̶̶t̶h̶e̶̶m̶o̶v̶e̶̶c̶o̶m̶e̶s̶̶f̶r̶o̶m̶̶R̶u̶s̶s̶i̶a̶’̶s̶̶e̶q̶u̶i̶v̶a̶l̶e̶n̶t̶̶o̶f̶̶B̶a̶g̶h̶d̶a̶d̶̶B̶o̶b̶,̶̶G̶e̶n̶e̶r̶a̶l̶̶S̶u̶r̶o̶v̶i̶k̶i̶n̶̶(as reported on a channel with no factchecking, https://t.me/Lepragram). This is no longer up-to-date (see final update to this diary below). Hold on, another general (Alexeyev) is saying similar things, but very vague (pro-Ukrainian channel https://t.me/+TtBalWyebkqTbWBF). Both Surovikin and Alexeyev look like they just cacked their britches — and I’m almost certain the videos were recorded in the same room.
Several pro-Ukrainian media outlets are now sharing the same “FSB source” claiming that Wagner group fighters are moving into Russia with no resistance, ̶b̶u̶t̶̶t̶h̶i̶s̶̶l̶o̶o̶k̶s̶̶t̶o̶o̶̶m̶u̶c̶h̶̶l̶i̶k̶e̶̶w̶i̶s̶h̶f̶u̶l̶̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶i̶n̶g̶̶t̶o̶̶m̶e̶̶p̶r̶e̶s̶e̶n̶t̶l̶y̶.̶ Prigozhin just announced Wagnerites are entering Rostov, the Russian army is not resisting them. BBC posted the announcement with a clarification that they are reporting on what Prigozhin claims (www.bbc.com/...)
We crossed the state border at all the crossings.The border guards hugged our
A screengrab from Prigozhin’s recent video address.
fighters.Now we are entering Rostov.Conscripts who were thrown against us step aside.[...] We go ahead.If anyone gets in the way, we will destroy everyone.We go to the end.
In the meantime, for Ukrainian towns and cities it's yet another restless night with air raid sirens. In Kyiv, air defense is working hard.
Final update to this diary.
Wagner group is reported to control the following keypoints in Rostov-on-Don:
- Headquarters of the Southern Military District;
- Police Department;
- Local office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs;
— Department of the FSB;
— Administration of Rostov.
No one is shooting at anyone, the police do not interfere with the Wagnerites. Source (popular channel, but no real factchecking): https://t.me/Lepragram
Multiple corroborating videos, for example (from a pro-Ukraine source)
About 24 hours later and 200 km away from the southern outskirts of Moscow, the whole thing turned into a farce— perhaps even more spectacularly than some of the most skeptical observers had anticipated.
