STORY: Russian army vehicles rumble past the Kremlin…
As mutinous Russian mercenary fighters barrelled towards Moscow on Saturday (June 24) after seizing a southern city overnight.
Russia’s military fired on them from the air but seemed unable to slow their lightning advance.
Facing the first serious challenge to his grip on power in his 23-year rule, President Vladimir Putin vowed to crush the armed mutiny he compared to Russia’s Civil War a century ago.
Overnight, the Wagner mercenaries seized Rostov-on-Don, Russia’s main rear logistical hub, close to the border with Ukraine.
“Will there be civil war?” this woman asks the mercenaries taking over her city. “No, everything will be fine,” a fighter answers.
The mutineers then advanced rapidly north through Russia.
Here they’re seen passing Voronezh, about 300 miles from Moscow and half way between Rostov and the capital.
A Reuters journalist saw army helicopters open fire at a Wagner column in the area.
A Russian security source told Reuters Wagner fighters had taken control of military facilities in the city, but Reuters could not independently confirm that.
Firefighters battled this blaze at a Voronezh fuel depot.
This video obtained by Reuters showed it blowing up in a fireball shortly after a helicopter flew by.
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private army fought the bloodiest battles in Ukraine, including Bakhmut, even as he feuded for months with the top brass.
He launched the mutiny after alleging the military had killed many of his fighters in an air strike, which the Defense Ministry denied.
Putin called it “treason” and said those who took part would be punished.
Prigozhin replied that he and his men had no intention of turning themselves in.
Putin’s grip may depend on whether he can muster enough loyal troops to combat the mercenaries while most of Russia’s military is deployed on the Ukraine frontline.
The insurrection also risks leaving Russia’s invasion force in disarray, just as Kyiv is launching its strongest counteroffensive since the war began last year.
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