Key events in Wagner mercenary group’s mutiny against Russia

The powerful head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has

mounted an armed uprising against Russia

in a series of fast-moving developments since Friday.

The latest turn of events represented the most dramatic conflict within Russia since

President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine

– with the help of Wagner – which began 16 months ago.

Here is a look at the key events in the private army’s turnabout:

June 23

– Prigozhin threatens to attack Russia’s Defence Ministry after what he says is a missile strike

that killed “huge” numbers of his men.

This is denied by the Russian military.

– Russia opens a criminal probe into Prigozhin’s calls to stage an “armed mutiny”. Security measures are tightened in Moscow.

June 24

– Prigozhin says his men have crossed the border from Ukraine into Russia and are ready to go “all the way” against the Russian military.

– In a video on Telegram, he says it is 7.30am (12.30pm Singapore time) and he is inside the army headquarters in southern Russia’s Rostov-on-Don. He claims that his fighters control the city’s military sites.

–

Mr Putin addresses his people

at around 3pm Singapore time. He calls the rebellion a “stab in the back” and vows to punish “traitors”. Prigozhin says Mr Putin is “deeply mistaken” in calling rebelling Wagner fighters “traitors” and rules out surrender.

– European and United States governments say they are monitoring the situation closely.

- The White House says US President Joe Biden has spoken with the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, and that they have affirmed their support for Ukraine.

– Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov says his forces are ready to help put down the mutiny. Mr Putin calls up leaders of Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

– Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says “Russia’s weakness is obvious” and that the longer Moscow keeps its troops and mercenaries in Ukraine, the more chaos it will invite back home.

– The governor of Russia’s Lipetsk region says Wagner mercenaries are “moving across” Lipetsk some 400km south of Moscow, en route to the capital city.

- Mr Putin signs a law permitting 30-day detentions for breaking martial law in places where it has been imposed, the RIA news agency reports.

- Wagner mercenaries have been promised an amnesty if they lay down their weapons “but they should do it fast”, the TASS news agency cites lawmaker Pavel Krasheninnikov as saying.

- Russia’s Foreign Ministry issues a statement warning Western countries against using the Wagner group’s mutiny “to achieve their Russophobic goals”.

- The office of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says he has brokered a deal with Prigozhin who has agreed to de-escalate the situation.

- Prigozhin says he has ordered his fighters advancing on Moscow in convoy to

turn around and return to their bases to avoid bloodshed.

-

Prigozhin will move to Belarus

under a deal brokered by President Lukashenko, the Kremlin said. The criminal case that had been opened against Prigozhin for armed mutiny would be dropped.