Boss Wagner declares to take over all military facilities in Rostov

Prigozhin announced that Wagner gunmen had taken control of all military facilities in Rostov province, southern Russia. after he was accused of inciting rebellion.

"We are at the military headquarters, it is 7:30 now," Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the private military group Wagner, said in a video posted on the social network Telegram today. "Military sites in Rostov, including the airport, are now under our control."

He added that Russian fighter jets involved in the attack on Ukraine "can still leave the airport as usual". "We control the airport so that the fighter jets do not attack us but attack Ukraine".

Prigozhin urged Russians not to believe what they were hearing on state media.

Head of the private security group Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin. Photo: TASS

"They tell you that Wagner interfered in internal affairs and that's why some things on the front collapsed... but things on the front collapsed not because of that," he said. "A huge amount of territory was lost. Soldiers were killed, three or four times more than what was written in the documents presented to the higher-ups."

Prigozhin said that Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov "ran away when he learned that we were approaching the building".

Rostov regional authorities urge people to stay at home.

Wagner leader previously said his forces had entered Russia from the Ukrainian front, vowing to overthrow the Russian military leadership, asserting that he and thousands of fighters were "ready to die".

Russia's military headquarters in Rostov is a key logistics base for the offensive in Ukraine.

On June 23, the Russian Security Service (FSB) announced the opening of an investigation into Prigozhin for "inciting rebellion" by calling on Wagner forces to fight against the Ministry of Defense .

The FSB announced the decision to open proceedings after Prigozhin accused Defense Minister Shoigu of flying to Rostov to direct the missile strike on Wagner's training camp, causing heavy casualties.

Location of Rostov province, Russia (circled in red). Graphics: Google — Location of Rostov province, Russia (circled in red). Graphics: *Google*

Boss Wagner announced sending 25,000 troops to Rostov to question Minister Shoigu about the attack, while affirming that this was "a march for justice, not a coup" and that this action "does not hinder the Russian army".

The FSB said Mr Prigozhin's statements and actions "constitute incitement to armed conflict on Russian territory, stab in the backs of soldiers fighting pro-fascist Ukrainian forces". The FSB also called on Wagner members not to follow Prigozhin's orders and arrest the leader of the private military corporation.

Vu Hoang (According to AFP, Moscow Times )

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