2023-07-23 19:19:00
What happened during the coup attempt led by Yevgeny Prigojine and his men on June 24? A fighter from the Wagner group breaks the silence and explains his role.
A group fighter Wagner explained the role he played in the attempt to rebellion against the Russian president Vladimir Poutine. The mercenary said that the soldiers of the Russian paramilitary organization “had no idea” of what was going on while their leader Evgeny Prigozhine staged a coup d’etat by seizing Rostov-on-Don then advancing towards Moscowon June 24th.
He says that the soldiers would have received a call to join a group leaving l’Ukraine June 23. The call would come from a commander who was acting on orders from Prigojine and the Wagner Command Council. Granting a rare interview to the BBCthe mercenary in question reveals that he was resting in a barracks in the Ukrainian region of Luhansk, occupied by Russia, when the call came.
Rostov-on-Don, “this is our city”
Gleb (his name has been changed by our British colleagues) said that the call informed members of Wagner that it was a “full deployment” and that they “would form a column”, and claims that the soldiers did not know where they would be heading. According to him, they only met no resistance crossing the Russian borderas they headed towards Rostov-on-Don: “I didn’t see any border guards. But the traffic police greeted us on the way.” Gleb told the BBC that his group had received the order to surround all law enforcement buildings in Rostov-on-Don before occupying the military airport.
Then, his unit would have been ordered to take control of the regional offices of the Federal Security Service (FSB, the Russian intelligence services). He reports that the building “seemed empty” upon their arrival. But, after half an hour, a door would have opened and two people would have entered, offering to “make a deal“. Gleb remembers answering them: “What is there to make a deal? It’s our city.” “So we agreed to leave each other alone.” relate-t-il.
The mercenaries advanced in a blur
As his men advanced, Prigozhin reportedly found himself at the headquarters of the Russian Army’s Southern Military District to meet with high-ranking military officials. There, he would have asked Russia to hand over to him the Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, and the Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu. Gleb explains that in the meantime, another column of Wagner fighters, led by the paramilitary group’s very discreet founder, Dmitry Utkin, was crossing Russia as the talks continued. However, Gleb assures that the fighters were unsure of Prigozhin’s plans. And, he said, learned of their leaders’ intentions via Telegramlike everyone.
On the evening of June 24, Gleb said he received a message calling him to return to base. It was on the way back that the Wagnerian mercenaries would have learned that their leader could be targeted by an investigation and had fled to Belarus. According to the statements of this soldier, Wagner’s fighters would also have discovered that they would not be prosecuted for their role in the mutiny. Asked about his future in the Russian paramilitary organization, Gleb says he cannot leave because his contract has not yet expired.
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