The governor of the region surrounding Russia’s capital has suspended mass public events outdoors and at educational institutions until July 1
US President Joe Biden spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday about the situation in Russia.
According to a statement from the White House, the four leaders reaffirmed their support for Ukraine during the conversation. However, the White House said U.S. officials were wary of weighing in further on the situation and «wanted to avoid any comment that could be misconstrued to suggest the U.S. was taking a side in the apparently internal conflict.
A popular Russian military blogger says the Wagner mercenaries shot down a Russian Ka-52 helicopter gunship in the Voronezh region on Saturday. Yevgeny Poddubny said both crewmembers were killed and posted pictures of the helicopter’s charred debris.
Russian media and military bloggers reported several purported helicopter attacks on advancing Wagner convoys.
Another popular blogger, a former military pilot using the nickname Fighterbomber, said that Wagner forces shot two Mi-8 helicopters and Il-18 communications aircraft of the Russian air force earlier Saturday.
The Russian military didn’t comment on the claims, which couldn’t be independently confirmed.
The governor of the region surrounding Russia’s capital has suspended mass public events outdoors and at educational institutions until July 1.
Gov. Andrei Vorobyov issued a decree with the bans on Saturday as the chief of private Russian military company Wagner said his mercenaries were heading to Moscow in an armed rebellion against Russia’s defense minister.
The governor’s decree doesn’t apply to the city itself but the surrounding areas. However, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin warned that traffic could be restricted in parts of the capital as part of the counter-terrorism operation prompted by the rebellion.
The counter-terrorism operation allows authorities to tighten security, impose curbs on traffic and communications, and to conduct searches without warrants. There was no immediate word of whether a curfew would be posed.
The mayor also declared Monday a non-working day for most people, with the exception of public servants and employees of some industrial enterprises.
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Moscow’s mayor warned Saturday that traffic could be restricted in parts of Russia’s capital as part of heightened security prompted by the rebellion of mercenaries with private military company Wagner.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin asked the city’s residents to refrain from using their cars amid the counter-terrorism operation in Moscow and the surrounding region that authorities introduced earlier Saturday. He also declared Monday a non-working day for most people, with the exception of public servants and employees of some industrial enterprises.
Sobyanin noted that all key city services were put on high readiness and advised residents to report any emergencies.
A senior Kremlin official has warned that a successful rebellion by the Wagner group would mean the mercenaries getting hold of Russia’s vast nuclear arsenal and raise an existential threat to the entire world.
The history of mankind hasn’t yet seen the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons under control by bandits, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies. Such a crisis will not be limited by just one country’s borders, the world will be put on the brink of destruction.
He added that we won’t allow such a turn of events.
Medvedev has frequently used hardline rhetoric since Russia sent troops into Ukraine, regularly reminding the West about Russia’s nuclear arsenal in a bid to discourage the U.S. and its allies from ramping up weapons supplies to Kyiv.
Medvedev described the rebellion as a well-planned operation aimed at seizing power in the country. He claimed that some veterans of elite Russian military units and foreign actors could have been involved in it.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has warned the West against trying to take advantage of the rebellion led by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The ministry said in a statement Saturday that we are cautioning Western countries against even a hint of using the internal situation in Russia for achieving their Russophobic goals.
It argued that the mutiny plays into the hands of Russia’s enemies and said that the Russian public stands behind President Vladimir Putin.
The ministry said that Moscow appreciates its allies and partners voicing their understanding of the situation.
Security in a number of Russian regions was tightened as authorities sought to thwart an armed rebellion spearheaded by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
There was tighter security particularly in areas between the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, where Prigozhin’s Wagner group appeared to control military headquarters, and Moscow.
The governor of the Lipetsk region asked residents to stay at home and refrain from traveling. Governor Igor Artamonov said on Telegram that Wagner had entered the province but the situation is under control.
In the neighboring Tambov region, mass events were canceled Saturday.
Those events included high school graduation parties. Russia’s Education Ministry said such parties were being postponed until July 1 in Moscow, the region around the capital and a number of other regions where additional anti-terrorist measures have been introduced.
The governor of the Kaluga region, just south of the Moscow region, said that movement on roads in areas on its western, southern and eastern borders had been restricted. Vladislav Shapsha wrote on Telegram that people should refrain from traveling by private vehicle on these roads unless absolutely necessary.
In the capital, traffic on the Moscow River was suspended. Police officers in bulletproof vests and with machine guns were seen near the entrance of the major highway that links Moscow with Voronezh and Rostovon-Don.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office says he told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday that Turkey was ready to help resolve the stand-off in Russia with the mercenary Wagner group.
The Turkish presidency tweeted that, in a phone call with Putin, Erdogan underlined the importance of acting with common sense and said Ankara could help resolve events as soon as possible.
