Russian security forces raid houses of Wagner mercenaries to prevent them from joining Prigozhin
Russian security forces have begun to conduct massive raids on the residences of current and former mercenaries of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) and are threatening them with being held accountable for joining Yevgeny Prigozhin’s militants heading for Moscow.
Source: Vazhnye Istorii (Important Stories)
Details: It is reported that FSB operatives and officers have staged raids in several cities of Russia in search of former and current fighters of the Wagner PMC.
Police officers and FSB officers have been visiting the mercenaries’ homes with weapons, looking for men and threatening them with a criminal article on "treason" if the militants join Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rebellion.
The publication reports, in particular, on a nighttime visit by the security forces to the mother of a wounded Wagnerite in Ryazan Oblast. Her son was taken away without charge. Security forces also visited the mother of a militant recruited from a penal colony in Voskresensk at night. Her son was not at home, and now he fears persecution.
Quote: "Security officials have already called him, and he told them that he would not join [the PMC - ed.]. But he contacted his guys [in the Wagner PMC - ed.], or so they [the security services - ed.] think. When he leaves the house, he wears a hoodie so that the Wagner tattoo on his neck is not visible," said the mother.
Also, the wife of a Wagner PMC fighter from a small village in Bryansk Oblast who returned in April told the news outlet that the district police officer also came to her place of residence.
"They asked ‘Where is your husband? In Moscow? In Rostov? Is he going to join the Wagner PMC again?’ A PMC flag was hanging at our house, and they forced it to be removed. He said that if they find out that he swears allegiance to Prigozhin and goes to Moscow, then he will automatically become a traitor to his homeland, he will be imprisoned for 20 years, and our family will no longer live here," she says.
Her husband was found at another address and forced to sign a document stating that he undertakes to comply with the laws of the Russian Federation, and if he switches to the "enemy side," that is, swears allegiance to Prigozhin, "he will be considered a neo-Nazi, a traitor to the homeland."
Similar raids took place in Orenburg, Orel, Voronezh Oblasts and Krasnodarskiy Krai. Men who refused to sign documents guaranteeing non-alignment with the PMC were detained.
Background:
- On the evening of 23 June, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that the regular Russian army had launched a missile strike on the Wagner mercenaries’ rear camps. He has therefore deployed 25,000 of his mercenaries "to restore justice".
- Prigozhin claimed that his forces had taken control of military facilities in Rostov-on-Don, including the air base, and were heading "to Moscow" and that his soldiers had shot down at least three Russian helicopters. Wagner mercenaries have also seized military facilities in the Russian city of Voronezh.
- In an emergency address on 24 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is "fighting for survival" and that attempts are being made to "organise a rebellion" in the country.
- UK Defence Intelligence reported that Wagner Group fighters are aiming to reach Moscow.
- On the afternoon of 24 June, Russian media reported that the Office of the President of the Russian Federation anticipates that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group fighters will likely reach Moscow’s outskirts in the next few hours, with fighting expected near Russia’s capital. Ukrainian intelligence has information that Putin has urgently left Moscow for his residence in Valdai.
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