Putin 'refused to take Wagner chief's frantic calls' as his troops marched on Moscow
Wagner soldiers marched within 120 miles of Moscow on Friday night in what was branded a "march of justice."
Vladimir Putin slams 'treason' from Wagner mercenary group
Vladimir Putin 'refused' to take Yevgeny Prigozhi's calls on the day of his attempted uprising, a source has claimed. The Wagner boss marched his men to Moscow on Friday for what he called a 'march of justice'. Vladimir Putin said the revolt was "treason". But a source told local media outlet Meduza the leader "tried to call Putin" as they marched towards the capital.
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The source said the Russian president "didn't want to speak to him" and did not answer the calls.
On Friday night, Wagner's men reached within 120 miles of Moscow as Prigozhin said it was supposed to reveal "serious security problems" in Russia but turned violent.
The source believes that the boss realised he had "gone too far" when the advanced were halted following negotiations with the Kremlin.
Speaking for the first time since the march, Prigozhin released an 11-minute message on his Telegram saying the march was "due to injustice and we showed no aggression, but despite this, we were hit by missiles and helicopters."
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He continued: "We showed master-class on how February 24, 2022, had to look, however, we turned around to avoid spilling the blood of Russian soldiers.
"The aim of the march was to avoid the destruction of Wagner and to hold to account the officials who through their unprofessional actions have committed a massive number of errors. We regret that we had to hit Russian aviation.
"We didn't do a march of justice to overthrow Russia's leadership, however, it showed serious security problems in the country."
Russia's government confirmed that the soldiers who joined the march would face no action and criminal charges launched against Mr Prigozhin would be dropped.
Wagner Group rebellion: A recap of what happened in Russia
Friday, June 23
Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed Russian soldiers bombed his Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine. Tensions between the Russian army and Wagner mercenaries had been building for months, with Prigozhin a vocal critic of Russia's efforts in Ukraine.
Mercenaries from the Wagner Group had previously led the Kremlin's efforts to capture the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut where fighting between Ukraine and Russia raged for months, with reports of high casualties on both sides.
Saturday, June 24
Prigozhin called for a "march for justice" against senior figures in Russia's military in Moscow, leading thousands of Wagner mercenaries towards the capital. The group had earlier seized the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, a key military and logistics hub for the Russian army. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the move an armed rebellion and threatened retribution.
The march was eventually called off after a settlement between the two sides. Wagner troops pulled out of Rostov-on-Don and the Kremlin said criminal charges against Prigozhin would be dropped, with the Wagner leader agreeing to relocate his private army to Belarus.
Speaking on Monday, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said the Wagner mutiny was an "unprecedented" attack on Vladimir Putin's authority that exposed "cracks" in domestic support for the war in Ukraine.
Mr Cleverly said: "The Russian government's lies have been exposed by one of President Putin's own henchman.
"Now, the full story of this weekend's events and the long-term effects will take some time to become clear and it is not helpful to speculate.
"But Prigozhin's rebellion is an unprecedented challenge to President Putin's authority and it is clear that cracks are emerging in the Russian support for the war."