we knew that we would win, the rebels would not have taken Moscow – Kommersant

The head of the National Guard, Viktor Zolotov, praised the work of law enforcement agencies during the military mutiny as excellent. He explained that the rapid advance of the Wagner forces across the country was due to the fact that the main forces were concentrated near Moscow. The capital, according to him, the rebels would not have been able to take.

“Any provocations in Moscow, if they arose against the backdrop of a rebellion, would have been suppressed. We knew that we would win, the rebels would not have taken Moscow. We are grateful to these guys for the fact that they were able to restrain themselves. The personnel of the Russian Guard at the checkpoints were delayed for 2-2.5 hours, they worked competently with them, and, in fact, this was also an achievement that no fire was opened, there were no losses on both sides, and the fact that everything ended quite safely, ”said the head of the National Guard.

Speaking about the reasons for the rebellion, Mr. Zolotov did not rule out the work of Western intelligence agencies. “Of course, the rebellion was prepared, inspired by the secret services of the West, because they knew about it, as they said, a few weeks before it began,” he said.

Viktor Zolotov also noted that heavy weapons, including tanks, will now appear in service with the Russian Guard. According to Mr. Zolotov, this issue has already been discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We don’t have tanks and long-range heavy guns. We will introduce this into the troops, depending on funding, ”he told reporters.

On the evening of June 23, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of PMC Wagner, announced a “march of justice” against Moscow. The Russian authorities considered this an armed rebellion and opened a criminal case. June 24 President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko informedthat he managed to negotiate with Yevgeny Prigogine. The fighters went to field camps, Mr. Prigogine himself had to leave for Belarus.

Today, June 27, the FSB announced that the criminal case on organizing an armed rebellion was terminated. Ministry of Defense announced on the start of preparations for the transfer of heavy equipment of the Wagner PMC to army units.