Russian military morale collapsing as items desert Putin and pledge Wagner assist
Russian troopers have been beginning to desert their items and throw their assist behind the Wagner rebels, as they continued to advance at tempo on Moscow. Prigozhin’s militia has since been ordered to stand down, simply as troops closed in a mere 200km from Moscow this night. In an indication that the mutiny was spreading to the broader army, a Russian airborne unit declared its full assist for the Wagner fighters.
A masked paratrooper allegedly from the 217 regiment of the 98th airborne division posted a video deal with to social media, during which he claimed that he and his comrades had been prepared to face “shoulder to shoulder” with the Wagner rebels.
The paratrooper mentioned: “Wagner lads…. We are with and support you in your quest for justice against the greedy pederasts from the Ministry of Defence, who could not care less about the life of an ordinary soldier.
“We, such as you, took half in troublesome battles. We know the worth of the lifetime of a easy soldier. We know the worth of our blood and we can’t allow them to make cannon fodder out of us.
“So know this – we are with you and are ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with you in your just fight.” The mutiny has despatched shockwaves by the Kremlin, which has at present been scrambling to comprise the rebellion that threatened to topple Putin and his regime.
The advance of Wagner troops in direction of the capital led to an exodus of elites from Moscow, with experiences of personal jets taking off en masse from airports within the metropolis.
Putin’s Presidential aircraft was additionally reported to have departed Moscow’s Vnukovo airport at 2.16pm native time (1216 BST) after which to have headed north-west. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that the Russian President was nonetheless in Moscow.
Wagner rebels had known as upon their Russian troopers to hitch them of their march to Moscow.
Leaflets from Prigozhin’s militia have been distributed in Ukrainian areas managed by the Russian military, urging Putin’s troops to disregard their orders and be part of the struggle for “justice”.
The Wagner rebels wrote: “Shoigu and Gerasimov are traitors of the motherland.
“They have thrown you into the meat grinder to save lots of their very own skins. Their sons get fats, when you give your life for the motherland.
“Those creatures are hiding the truth. They have ruined the lives of hundreds of thousands of our lads. They even shoot their own soldiers! And make scape goats out of you!
“Instead of honour from the motherland, you pay along with your lives for his or her brainlessness. We – the Wagner militia – are happening a march for justice to Moscow. Join us! It’s not a coup – It’s restoration of justice. Together we are able to cease this evil.”
Shoigu is the current Minister of Defence, while Gerasimov is Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
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Wagner Group chief Prigozhin has halted his march on Moscow in order to “keep away from bloodshed”, he has announced. The decision comes after Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko held talks with the militia leader.
Prigozhin called off his march on the capital in an audio message on his Telegram group. He said he “gave the order to show again due to the danger of blood being spilled”.
He added: “We left on June 23 for the march of justice. In a day we travelled, not reaching 200 km, to Moscow.
“During this time, we have not shed a single drop of the blood of our fighters.
“Now the second has come when blood could possibly be shed, subsequently, realising all of the duty for the truth that Russian blood will likely be shed on one of many sides, we flip our columns round and return in the other way to the sector camps, in accordance with the plan.”