Wagner mutiny: Junior commander reveals his role in the challenge to Putin

A mercenary who took portion successful the attempted mutiny against Russian President Vladimir Putin says helium and his chap fighters "didn't person a clue" what was going on.

In the abstraction of conscionable 24 hours, the person of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, staged an insurrection, sending troops into the confederate metropolis of Rostov, past further connected towards Moscow.

Wagner fighters seldom speech to the media, but BBC Russian spoke to a inferior commandant who recovered himself successful the mediate of the action.

Gleb - not his existent sanction - had antecedently been progressive successful the warring for the symbolic municipality of Bakhmut successful eastbound Ukraine. As the mutiny began, helium was resting with his portion successful barracks successful the Russian-occupied Luhansk region.

Early successful the greeting connected 23 June they got the telephone to articulation a file of Wagner fighters leaving Ukraine. The bid came from a Wagner commandant who Gleb is reluctant to sanction for information reasons, but who was acting connected orders from Prigozhin and the Wagner Command Council.

"It's a afloat deployment," helium was told. "We're forming a column, let's determination out."

Gleb says no-one was told wherever the file was heading, but helium was amazed erstwhile helium realised they were moving distant from the frontline.

The Wagner fighters encountered perfectly nary resistance, helium says, arsenic they crossed the Russian borderline into the Rostov region.

"I didn't spot immoderate borderline guards," helium recalls. "But the postulation constabulary saluted america on the way."

Channels intimately associated with Wagner connected the messaging app Telegram aboriginal claimed that borderline guards astatine the Bugayevka checkpoint had laid down their weapons arsenic the Wagner fighters arrived.

These channels shared a photograph purportedly from the country showing 2 twelve unarmed individuals successful camouflage.

As they approached Rostov-on-Don, the fighters were fixed orders to situation each the instrumentality enforcement bureau buildings successful the metropolis and to inhabit the subject airport. Gleb's portion was told to instrumentality power of the determination offices of the Federal Security Service (FSB).

As they approached the gathering it appeared to beryllium wholly locked and empty. They flew a drone overhead to cheque for immoderate signs of life.

Eventually, aft fractional an hour, a doorway opened and 2 radical came retired onto the street.

"They said, 'Guys, let's marque a deal'," Gleb recounts. "I said, 'What's determination to marque a woody about? This is our city'.

"So we conscionable agreed that we would permission each different alone. They came retired to fume from clip to time."

Rostov journalists person reported a akin concern with galore authorities buildings successful and astir the city. The Wagner fighters would archetypal alert drones implicit them and past situation them. No-one was allowed to leave, but transportation couriers were allowed successful with food.

While each this was going connected Wagner person Prigozhin was astatine the Russian army's Southern Military District office gathering Russia's Deputy Defence Minister, Lt Gen Yunus-bek Yevkurov, and the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Lt Gen Vladimir Alexeyev.

Prigozhin demanded that they manus implicit the Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

At the aforesaid clip arsenic Prigozhin was successful his meeting, determination was different file of Wagner fighters connected the move.

Gleb confirms media reports that this file was led by Wagner laminitis Dmitry Utkin, a erstwhile peculiar forces serviceman who is seldom seen successful public.

This file was connected the main road towards Voronezh, and seemingly bound for Moscow, helium says.

So did Gleb cognize the program - what Prigozhin was intending oregon readying to do?

He swears arsenic helium bluntly says helium didn't person a clue. "We learned what was happening from Telegram, conscionable similar you did."

As the time went on, pictures of what was happening successful Rostov were beamed astir the world. People were amazed to spot section residents and adjacent section journalists seemingly smiling and chatting to immoderate of the usually tight-lipped Wagner fighters occupying their city.

"It was the ex-cons," says Gleb, referring to the galore serving prisoners oregon convicts conscripted into Wagner past year. "Nobody told them not to, cipher cares astir them."

For established fighters similar Gleb, who were hired agelong earlier the warfare successful Ukraine, the rules are overmuch much intelligibly understood.

He told the BBC that backmost successful the spring, they had been told by the elder bid that anyone who spoke to the media would beryllium "nullified", i.e. killed. Several erstwhile Wagner fighters person told america the aforesaid thing.

On the evening of 24 June, Gleb was contacted by 1 of his superiors and told, without immoderate explanation, that helium and his portion should present instrumentality to basal successful Luhansk.

As they made their mode backmost to barracks, they were pursuing the quality connected Telegram.

They work that transgression charges had been initiated against Prigozhin, past dropped, and that helium was to determination to Belarus.

They past work that Wаgner fighters would not beryllium held accountable for their relation successful the mutiny due to the fact that of their "combat merits", according to President Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

For Gleb and his unit, their aboriginal is present unclear. They've been told to enactment successful their barracks successful Luhansk and await further orders.

Their hosts, authorities of the alleged Luhansk People's Republic, pro-Russian separatist militants successful eastbound Ukraine, are keen to find retired much astir their aboriginal plans and what volition hap to their instrumentality and ammunition, helium says.

When asked wherefore helium doesn't permission Wagner, Gleb has a elemental answer: "My declaration hasn't expired yet."