ROSTOV-ON-DON: Mutinous Russian mercenary fighters barrelled towards Moscow on Saturday (Jun 24) after seizing a southern city overnight, with Russia's military firing on them from the air but seemingly incapable of slowing their lightning advance.
Reuters saw troop carriers and a flatbed truck carrying a tank careening past the city of Voronezh more than halfway to Moscow, where a helicopter fired on them. But there were no reports of the rebels meeting any substantial resistance on the highway.
"All those who deliberately stepped on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed insurrection, who took the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, will answer both to the law and to our people."A defiant Prigozhin swiftly replied that he and his men had no intention of turning themselves in.
In Rostov, which serves as the main rear logistical hub for Russia's entire invasion force, residents milled about calmly, filming on mobile phones as Wagner fighters in armoured vehicles and battle tanks took up positions. Western capitals said they were closely following the situation in nuclear-armed Russia. The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed.
Putin's grip on power may depend on whether he can muster enough loyal troops to combat the mercenaries at a time when most of Russia's military is deployed at the front in southern and eastern Ukraine. His men took on the fiercest fighting of the 16-month Ukraine war, including the protracted battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut.
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