The world watched in shock this weekend as Russian President Vladimir Putin faced the greatest threat to his leadership since he assumed the role more than 20 years ago as Wagner mercenary forces mutinied and looked to storm Moscow.
But just as quickly as the situation escalated, the threat against Moscow appeared to evaporate after Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin ordered his men to stop their march and instead reportedly head for Belarus following an obscure deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Prigozhin resurfaced for the first time since the agreement was reached Saturday in a Monday audio message posted to his Telegram, though his location remains unclear.
Here’s how the events unfolded:
– Tensions erupted Friday after Prigozhin released a video on Telegram that directly contradicted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s justification for his illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
– The Wagner leader posted a series of clips in which he also accused the Russian defense ministry of firing a rocket strike upon Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine.
– By early Saturday Prigozhin said his forces had crossed the Ukraine-Russia border and had taken control of the military headquarters in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.
– As many as 25,000 Wagner mercenaries were alleged to have followed Prigozhin into Russia to not only take the southern city but to push north towards the Voronezh region on their eventual way to Moscow.
– By 10 a.m. Putin gave a televised address calling Prigozhin’s actions an "armed mutiny" and a "knife in the back of our country and our people," though he never named Prigozhin directly.
– Reports began to surface that Wagner forces had entered the Voronezh region and shortly after 11:40, and the governor of the region, Aleksandr Gusev, took to Telegram to say that Russian forces were "conducting necessary operational and combat activities" in a "counterterrorism operation," reported the Kyiv Independent.
– Chechen leader and Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov said that Chechen forces had been sent to the "conflict zones" in Russia.
– Prigozhin responded to Putin’s address in a video message posted to his Telegram and said his Wagner forces would not back down "because we don't want the country to continue living in corruption, deceit, and bureaucracy."
– The U.S. and its NATO allies said they were closely monitoring the situation.
– By 1:30 p.m., Putin's office announced he had held phone conversations with the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan regarding the "situation" in Russia.
– Around 4 p.m., reports began to surface alleging that Russian military helicopters had opened fire on a convoy of Wagner mercenaries that were reportedly more than halfway towards Moscow.
– By 4 p.m., Lukashenko claimed he brokered a deal between Putin and Prigozhin as Wagner forces were reported to have reached an area known as Yelets, roughly 250 miles south of Moscow.
– Around 8:30 p.m. Moscow time, Prigozhin released an audio message through his press service’s Telegram account that said that he had decided to end the mutiny and turn his troops around to avoid more bloodshed.
Reuters contributed to this report.
