While the Russians digest the most turbulent weekend in two decades of Putinism, the country’s capital remains under a special police regime and normality gradually returns to the south of the country, where the problems began.
Heavily armed mercenaries withdrew from the southern Russian city of Rostov overnight Saturday under a deal that defuses an unprecedented challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s authority. The Wagner leader, Evgeny Prigozhin, halted his rapid advance on Moscow when he had covered most of the way from his southern stronghold.
Chechen fighters sent to Rostov to deal with Prigozhin’s men headed back to their positions on the Ukrainian front. But one of the access bridges to the capital, that of Koloma, was still closed on Sunday morning, blocked by more than 20 vehicles placed on Saturday to stop the advance of the mutinous mercenaries.
The media remain very attentive to any gesture by Vladimir Putin: some adjustment in the military leadership after these difficult hours. The television channels avoid stressing that the Kremlin has agreed with the mutineers instead of defeating them. “It is important that people on both sides, who are ready to give their lives for Russia, do not start killing each other in a senseless massacre. Those who wanted blood so badly did not get it. Russia once again passed its test of maturity, and the strength of the unit remained unshakable,” said Russia’s so-called chief propagandist Dimitri Kiselev in his Vesti Nedeli program.
Moscow was calm on Sunday, with Red Square closed but otherwise little evidence of further security measures. Monday has been declared a non-working day in the Russian capital to give room to recover normality. In Saint Petersburg, the country’s second city, the police presence is felt in all the key points of the center.
In Rostov, all transport restrictions, including those on roads, were lifted. “The bus and train stations are working in normal mode. Tickets are on sale, there is punctuality,” said Sergey Tyurin, deputy minister for regional policy and mass communications of the Rostov region.
Prigozhin, 62, was seen leaving the district military headquarters in Rostov, hundreds of kilometers south of Moscow, on Saturday night in a vehicle. His whereabouts on Sunday were unclear. Videos shared on social media from Rostov overnight showed the mercenaries retreating in a convoy of armored vehicles, tanks and buses to the sound of cheers, chants of “Wagner” and celebratory shots from residents.
The Wagner Group fighters returned to their bases in exchange for security guarantees for Prigozhin, who will move to Belarus, according to the deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Chechen special forces that were deployed in the Rostov region to resist the mercenaries’ advance are also withdrawing to where they had been fighting in Ukraine, Commander Apty Alaudinov announced in a video posted on Telegram.
The capital has lived the weekend with anxiety, knowing that it was the target of the mutineers. Tickets were sold out on Saturday to go to the main foreign destinations where Russians can continue flying from their country. Videos of heavily armed Wagner mercenaries advancing towards Moscow were shared hourly on social media. They turned around to avoid “bloodshed”. Even so, Prigozhin was the butt of jokes on the Internet, where he was portrayed as a clown or a fairy tale villain.
The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, who is very close to President Vladimir Putin, has declared that the “anti-terrorist regime” remains in force, decreed before the leader of the private militia Wagner announced that his fighters would back down. The police listen to conversations and inspect basements. Surveillance has been tightened everywhere.
Russia’s Federal Road Agency on Sunday urged residents of the Moscow region to refrain from traveling on the main M-4 highway in the morning. During the first part of the day, traffic restrictions were maintained on the highway in the Moscow and Tula regions. The Wagners’ advance has left hundreds of kilometers of highway damaged.
Meanwhile, the Russians wonder how this suddenly happened; and, above all, if it is really over.
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