In the wake of claims by the Wagner troops that it has seized Russian Military installation on their drive to Moscow, President Vladimir Putin has stressed that a civil war will not be allowed to repeat itself in the country.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin made the statement on Saturday in a televised broadcast to address the nation on the unfolding events in the country.
Putin’s address which is coming 16 months after his broadcast to the nation announcing the commencement of a special military operation in Ukraine, was addressing the ongoing armed mutiny by the Wagner Group; a private military company that has been fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine.
The Wagner Group (officially called PMC Wagner) with headquarters in St Petersburg, is said to have tens of thousands of troops, amongst them are many veterans of Russia’s elite regiments and special forces.
The leader of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s announced via his Telegram handle that the group has seized “all military facilities” in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.
Media reports state that the Wagner forces marched into Rostov from Ukraine, and took over the city and military command headquarters. A video broadcasted by BBC showed Prigozhin in a discussion with two Russian military generals.
Rostov-on-Don is a strategic city close to the Ukrainian border, and plays host to Russia’s Southern Military command, from which the military run the war in Ukraine.
Prigozhin says his aim is “not a military coup but a march for justice” and it comes after a long-running war of words with Russia’s military chiefs escalated dramatically. He accused the Russian military chiefs of being responsible for the death of many of Wagner fighters in Ukraine by their failure to provide proper ammunition for the fighting troops.
Investogist learned from Nigerians residing in Krasnodar close to Voronezh, a city halfway between Rostov and Moscow that the Wagner forces has captured the city and moving towards Volgorad on the M4 highway.
There are reports of fighting in Voronezh, after what appeared to be a bombing of an oil depot by a military helicopter.
In his address, Putin argued that “Russia is today waging a grueling fight for its future,” facing off with the “neo-Nazis and their masters.”
He went on to stress that “essentially the entire might of the West’s military, economic and information machine” is being directed against the country.
“This battle, when the fate of our people is being decided,” calls for national unity and consolidation, Putin said in his address. According to the president, all internal conflicts and bickering must be put aside at present as “our external enemies can and use them to undermine us internally.”
Putin reminded Russians that a similar scenario played out in the country in 1917, when it was in the middle of World War I. He recounted how “intrigues, bickering, politicking behind the army’s and the people’s back” led to the “collapse of the state,” and the “tragedy of the Civil War.”
“Russians were killing Russians, brothers were killing brothers, while various political adventurers and foreign powers were capitalizing on it,” the president said.
Putin vowed to prevent this from happening as well as to defend Russia and its people, “including from internal mutiny.”
In his address, Putin clearly labelled the PMC coup attempt as a “betrayal.” He cited “enormous ambitions and personal interests” of certain individuals as the reasons behind this “betrayal of their country and its people.” He went on to accuse those responsible, without naming Prigozhin in particular, of turning their back on the joint military cause in Ukraine and the memory of the fallen fighters.
Those responsible will be brought to account before the Russian people, the president assured the public, the President stressed.
The Russian president acknowledged that the situation in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia, remains “difficult,” with the functioning of local civil and military authorities being “effectively blocked.” However, the state will take “decisive actions to stabilize” the situation in the city.
He stated that “all necessary orders have been issued to the armed forces and other authorities,” and added that a special anti-terrorist security protocol had been enacted Moscow, Moscow region and several other locations.
The President promised to do everything he could to defend the “country, defend the constitutional order, life, security and liberty of citizens.”
Late on Friday, PMC Wagner’s boss Evgeny Prigozhin accused the Russian military of striking his group’s base – something the Defense Ministry has strongly denied.
Russian authorities, in turn, have launched a criminal investigation into Prigozhin over staging an armed insurrection.
Earlier in the month, the Russian government moved to take direct control of Wagner, after months of infighting between defence officials and the private military group.
Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Pankov then stated that “volunteer formations” will be asked to sign contracts directly with the ministry of defence.
In a furious statement responding to the statement from the Defence ministry, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces would boycott the contracts.
“Wagner will not sign any contracts with Shoigu,” Prigozhin said in response to a request for comment on the defence ministry’s announcement. “Shoigu cannot properly manage military formation.”
Prigozhin, who is said to hold political ambitions of his own, has been embroiled in a public dispute with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and military chief Valery Gerasimov for months.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
