A woman walks past fighters of Wagner private mercenary group in a street near the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023.
Reuters
Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin marched on a Russian military building on Saturday.
Videos on social media show troops from the Wagner mercenary group crowding the streets.
Citizens can be seen filming from close distances despite being told to stay off the streets.
Videos on social media show soldiers from Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group descending on Rostov-on-Don on Saturday morning after the group’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin proclaimed that Russia’s defense ministry “must be stopped.”
One clip from Saturday morning verified by the Washington Post shows tanks rolling through the streets of Rostov-on-Don and surrounding Russia’s Southern Military District headquarters. Multiple people can be seen watching and filming the military vehicles and soldiers.
Fighters of Wagner private mercenary group pose for a picture as they get deployed near the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023
Reuters
Another clip verified by the Post shows dozens of soldiers marching through the city center with weapons in hand.
One video posted on social media shows a group of young people filming the scene downtown — some within feet of soldiers setting up automatic rifles — despite the region’s governor, Vasily Golubev, urging citizens not to leave their homes unless necessary.
—Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) June 24, 2023
On Friday night, Prigozhin began what Russia is calling an “armed rebellion” after he accused the country’s defense ministry of killing scores of his troops in a missile strike. Insider could not immediately verify Prigozhin’s claims, and Russia’s defense ministry has denied his accusations.
As of Saturday morning, Prigozhin said his troops successfully took control of Rostov’s airfield and military headquarters while assuring that his actions would not interfere with the fighting in Ukraine.
Fighters of Wagner private mercenary group are deployed in a street near the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023.
Reuters
Meanwhile, Russia’s state-owned news agency TASS announced Russian President Vladimir Putin would be addressing the country at some point, per his spokesperson.
A spokesperson for the Kremlin did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.