this is the global news podcast from the BBC World
Service I'm Chris Barrow and in the early hours of Sunday the 25th of June this is our main story the
Russian government says the leader of the Wagner mercenary group Evgeni pragosian will move to
Belarus and charges against him and his Fighters will be dropped hours after their Rebellion ended
Wagner troops halted their Advance on Moscow after the Belarusian leader Alexander lukashenko
held talks with Mr pagosian he acknowledged the about
turn we were just 200 kilometers away
from Moscow during that time we did not spill a single drop of blood of our Fighters we're
turning our cones back and leaving in the opposite direction to the field camps according to
the plan in other news the UN has condemned deadly attacks on civilians fleeing the Sudanese city of
elginina reportedly carried out by an Arab militia it was an extraordinary Saturday in Russia at
one stage the Wagner mercenary group led by evgeny pregosian vowed to go in
convoys to the
center of Moscow and seek out the heads of the Russian defense and Military Red Square was sealed
off and machine gun posts were reportedly set up in the southwest of the Russian capital in his
morning television address to the Russian people President Putin acknowledged that Russia was in
the midst of an armed Mutiny he described the move by yevgeny pagosian as a knife in the back this
crisis was triggered earlier by the Wagner group's rebellion in the southern city of rost
er Von Donn
that's the command center for the Russian army since its invasion of Ukraine there the Wagner
mercenaries have been fighting alongside Russian troops later on Saturday a major development
emerged if getting pregosian said his convoys that were heading towards Moscow would turn around and
return to their bases to avoid Bloodshed on both sides he had put a message on the telegram social
media channel and it's voiced by a translator they wanted to disband the Wagner on June 23rd
w
e went out on a Justice March within a day we were just 200 kilometers away from Moscow during
that time we did not spill a single drop of blood of our Fighters now the moment has come when the
blood can be spilled therefore understanding all the responsibility for the fact that Russian blood
will be spilled on one of the sides where turning our columns back and leaving in the opposite
direction to the field camps according to the plan shortly before that statement was issued
the president
of Belarus Alexander lukashenko said he'd negotiated a deal with Evgeni pragosian
in which the mercenary leader had agreed to stop further movements of Wagner fighters in Russia
and de-escalate the apparent deal comes after the authorities in Moscow imposed anti-terrorism
rules in anticipation of Wagner forces arriving in the capital Matthew amrolliwala spoke to the BBC's
Eastern European correspondent Sarah Rainsford who spent many years in Russia so what are her
thoughts on what happened
there on Saturday extraordinary I I'm not entirely sure that I've
yet absorbed exactly what's happened but certainly the pace of events was unprecedented the very fact
that this was happening itself was unprecedented and then at the last minute to have Wagner forces
supposedly 200 kilometers or so outside of Moscow and for Alexander lukashenko to step in and
apparently save the day is yet another weird twist and a very very strange 24 hours or so in Russian
Affairs I mean and that is saying
something you know it's been pretty weird there for a long time
but from all of this of course Vladimir Putin is damaged this was a man who was very close to him
and for many many years doing his Dirty Work in in various aspects and spheres of life from Syria
to meddling in elections to all sorts of other activity and most recently of course fighting with
his forces in Ukraine this creature of the Kremlin has turned against its Master essentially and so I
think that's why this was so drama
tic this wasn't just anybody this was a man who Vladimir Putin had
said who had it seems turned around and stamped him in the back as well Putin himself had said
and so the Specter was raised as something very dangerous and very disturbing happening in Russia
the fact of a blood being shed which apparently appears to have been averted so it is difficult
to absorb exactly what might have happened and what hasn't happened but certainly a very very
extraordinary day given the language though f
rom Vladimir Putin treason betrayal I mean how do they
even go about trying to piece that back together because that Wagner group has been so critical
on the battlefield hasn't it yes unless think you've gaining precaution across a massive line
I I can't see how there can be a way back for him after Vladimir Putin has openly accused him of
betrayal how could he possibly then pardon him um you know maybe even if he said you know
he'd gone slightly mad on the battlefield for example I just I
just can't see that kind of
of backtracking we haven't seen the the details of the deal that has supposedly been agreed all
we know is that there was some kind of security guarantees according to president lukashenko of
Belarus those guarantees for Wagner Fighters what I would say is that you know this at its very root
appears to have been about his Guinea precautions rolled his status and his survival with the
Wagner group that he established because the Russian establishment was trying to
absorb the
MercyMe group into the military and Wagner and had been resisting that so you know the enmity
that the hostility the terrible relationship with the defense Ministry goes back many many years
and we've seen it over recent month spill out in dangerous rhetoric now we've seen that that um
that dispute play out in an extremely dangerous way for Vladimir Putin himself so the real danger
to Mr Putin to Russia as a whole has been averted but still the big question remains of what exact
ly
now happens to you again you put it gaussian how can his threat if you like be be removed even
with this deal supposedly on the table even with his forces turning around and leaving the
Moscow region and I suppose the next few days will be absolutely critical as well with so many
of these unanswered questions are we going to see for example changes at the top of the Russian
military the defense Ministry the head of the army that's what progression has been calling for
he's also called f
or for the tactics uh to be much hardened in terms of what we've seen so far we
wait to see if any of that feeds into to how this gets resolved yeah and those are huge questions
again I mean I I find it hard to think that as a result of this black male essentially Vladimir
Putin would sack his defense minister I think that that would make him look weak in a way that
he would not want to happen I know that that's certainly what's what your guinea precaution has
been calling for all along and
also for the head of Valeri garasima feed the chief of staff to
to give in if you like to those demands would be pretty much a difficult climb down I think for
Vladimir Putin given that he came out and made the national address where he talked about treason
Vladimir Putin likes trust he likes loyalty he hates being betrayed the phrase stab in the
back is an extremely serious one for him to use so I I find it hard to think that anything
that precaution was demanding would be given to him Sa
rah Rainsford the retreat by the Wagner
group and its leader yevgeni pragosian has led to speculation about negotiations behind the scenes I
asked the BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner what scenarios could have led to this about turn
by the Wagner convoys has been been destined for Moscow I think the phone call that the Belarusian
leader um lukashenko made with pragosian with the agreement with Preston Putin Master presented him
with an offer that he couldn't refuse it I mean I am sp
eculating but I think given his situation
it must have been something along the lines of look you're on your own here no one's come out to
support you you know okay you're 200 kilometers from Moscow well done but you're not going to get
in there's going to be a lot of blood spilled and that's Russian blood and you're Russian you're
a patriot so you might as well give up it hasn't worked just you know cut your losses save the
save the lives if you know if you care about your troops as you sa
y you do then spare their
lives and meanwhile no you're not going to get prosecuted you're going to have a nice comfortable
retirement in Belarus is there any chance that this won't play out as it seems to be about to
play out he won't end up going to Belarus or is it is it pretty much a done deal now now that
this has been publicly announced I think anything could happen this whole thing is so incredibly
murky and mysterious I mean so much happened in 24 hours there is there's quite a grow
ing
conspiracy theory on social media that this is all some kind of put up job some sort of ruse
I mean people say well hang on how are they able to walk into roster London the headquarters of
Southern military command without a shopping fart I think the answer there is because the Kremlin
didn't expect to get attacked by its own people in the rear like this I just don't think they
saw this coming and if it was some kind of a put up job it's not a very clever one because
it makes it's not
a good look for Russia these are very bad optics for Preston Putin he appears
weak and out of control he promised this whole special military operation a year ago plus to make
Russia more secure it's made it quite the opposite Frank Gardner well in his emergency address on
national television President Putin had said that the Wagner group's actions amounted to treason
its leader evgen pragosian rejected that saying his Fighters were patriots and insisting Russia
could not carry on in corrup
tion and deceit as we already heard the Wagner mercenaries had taken
control of the southern city of roster vondon the command center for the Russian army
since its invasion of Ukraine our Russia editor Steve Rosenberg reports in the Russian
city of rostov this was no ordinary Saturday people woke to the site of tanks on the streets
armored personnel carriers armed Fighters in this city of a million people the mercenary
group Wagner was in control closely linked to the state this private Ar
my had fought for
Russia in Ukraine but this looked like mutiny um [Music] had gone Rogue his Feud with
Russia's military leadership over how the war in Ukraine is
being fought had boiled over at a military HQ in rustov he told Russian
generals we've come for the defense minister and the chief of the general staff if we don't get
them we'll blockade the city and head to Moscow back in Moscow President Putin's
reaction that's treachery our actions to defend the Fatherland from this
threat
will be harsh everyone who consciously chose the path of treason and planned the armed
Uprising has embraced blackmail and terrorist methods they will be inevitably punished before
the law and our people all day there have been reports of convoys of bugner Fighters and Hardware
heading north towards Moscow attempts were made to slow them down with trenches and barricades on the
main Highway but in the Russian Capital what do muscovites make of the drama some people I spoke
to hadn't noticed
it at all others seem confused before they told us Wagner was good Svetlana tells
me they gave them medals they were positive Heroes now suddenly they're villains that's hard for
me to get used to Steve Rosenberg in Moscow and there was a flurry of phone calls between world
leaders as the armed Mutiny gathered Pace the Turkish president erdogan appealed for common
sense and phone Vladimir Putin to offer his help in finding a peaceful solution President
Biden called the leaders of Germany F
rance and Britain to discuss the latest events the White
House said they all affirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine Latvia and Estonia both NATO
members tightened Security on their borders with Russia well tensions have been building between
Evgeni pragosian and Russia's military leadership since February when he accused senior Kremlin
figures of depriving his mercenaries fighting in Ukraine of ammunition our security correspondent
Gordon Carrera has been examining Mr pagosian's rise
from hot dog vendor to head of one of the
world's most infamous military outfits yevgeni pragoshim was jailed for robbery in his home
city of Saint Petersburg in 1981. after leaving prison he began selling hot dogs before before
moving on to expensive restaurants he caught the attention of Russia's leader and in time became
known as Putin's Chef he catered for visiting world leaders but in recent years he's branched
out running military and semi-covert operations around the world on behalf
of the Kremlin that
led to the FBI placing him on their most wanted list accusing him of interfering with America's
2016 election but he became best known as head of Wagner a sometimes brutal private mercenary
group working to the kremlin's agenda across the Middle East and Africa last year he began
recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine but bloody battles like the one in back moot led
to Growing tension with the military leadership in May yevgeny pagosian angrily accused the
defense mi
nister Sergey shoigu and the military Chief Valerie garasimov of using his men as
cannon fodder and denying them vital supplies foreign in recent weeks he'd been growing even more
outspoken increasingly seeming to challenge not just the military but also Vladimir
Putin the man who previously had protected him bringing what had been a simmering crisis
to the boil Gordon Carrera events in Russia were being closely monitored throughout Saturday
in the Ukrainian Capital Kiev as President Putin
acknowledged initially that Russia was in
the midst of an armed Mutiny his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir zelenski said that Russia's
weakness was obvious and that everyone who chose the path of evil destroyed himself after the
turnaround was announced by the Wagner group Mr zelenski in his nightly address accused President
Putin of Running Scared the man from the Kremlin is obviously very afraid and probably hiding
somewhere not showing himself I am sure that he is no longer in Moscow he k
nows what he is
afraid of because he himself created this threat and to you people of Russia the longer
your troops stay on Ukrainian land the more Devastation they will bring to Russia
the longer this person is in the Kremlin the more disaster there will be others
our correspondent Andrew Harding spent Saturday assessing the mood of Ukrainian
fighters on the front line in the Don bass as the developments across the border in Russia
continue to change rapidly Ukrainian Army Medics rushed t
o treat another shrapnel casualty
near the front lines outside bakmud [Music] Russia may be in disarray right now but
the fighting here is as ferocious as ever during a brief lull the head doctor here
called sign Yoda Sounds unimpressed by news of a mutiny in Russia most of
us don't really believe it he says or maybe it's a performance something to try to
distract us what matters is that we fight on but later one of his team Grins and says if
there is a revolution in Russia I'm getting dru
nk [Music] be getting much more intense around bakmut and
the word from the ukrainians is that they are advancing now steadily meter by meter a divided
demoralized Russian military certainly offers opportunities for Ukraine's forces and the timing
could hardly be better for them as they prepare to commit far more troops to their counter-offensive
but Success is Not Guaranteed and there are fears here that an unstable Russia could pose new
threats to Ukraine perhaps even some form of nuclear
sabotage and yet for now ukrainians
are gripped by events unfolding in their giant neighbor and hoping an unpredictable situation
may yet indicate a useful turning point in this war Andrew Harding so what effect will these
developments in Russia have on the war in Ukraine general Douglas Lutz is a former U.S permanent
representative to Nato he talked to Helena Humphrey I think pregosian and the Wagner group
will be cut down to size I don't buy this recent explanation that lukashenko and Be
larus mediated
some sort of deal that will defuse the situation and everything will be okay to tomorrow I think in
the coming days you're going to see a harsh form of Putin Justice brought to pagosian and his in
the leadership of the Wagner group this will not be forgiven and forgotten but is it the question
also General as to whether Putin can really carry on without the aid of Wagner forces well it's true
that the Wagner forces in Ukraine were among the most active and while while sufferi
ng very heavy
attrition themselves among the most successful in the last six months or so so even removing
them from the front lines in Ukraine presents the Ukrainian counter-offensive an opportunity
I don't accept however that this force can one day be in rostov on Dawn welcome by the Russian
people even portion of it headed to Moscow on the M4 Highway and then tomorrow simply return
without incident to the front lines in Ukraine there's more this story that will play out in the
coming ho
urs and days and we'll be watching it closely general Douglas loot [Music] and still to
come play Gators could be seen boarding the ship shortly after it docked also arriving was a vessel
Towing four white ballast buoyancy tanks that were used to launch the doomed submersible the ship
currently docked in Canada was used to launch the mini sub that was destroyed during a dive
to the Titanic wreck killing all five people on board now to other news the UN has denounced the
killing of civilians
fleeing the city of elginina in the west of Sudan the UN Human Rights office
has blamed Arab militias and the paramilitary rapid support forces for the ethnically targeted
attacks the rsf have been fighting the Sudanese Army for 10 weeks prompting two and a half million
people to flee their homes our Africa Regional editor will Ross reports the UN Human Rights
office says people fleeing war in the Sudanese region of Darfur have given horrifying accounts of
executions carried out by Arab mi
litia backed by the paramilitary rapid support forces or rsf the
U.N quotes Witnesses who had managed to get out of elginina and cross into neighboring Chad many
of them saw non-arab people forced to lie on the ground before being shot at close range they spoke
of dead bodies scattered on the roads towards the border the killings in Darfur are a continuation
of the conflict that began in 2003. once again there's growing evidence of ethnic cleansing in
Sudan will Ross now as we record this p
odcast vote counting is underway in Sierra Leone where 12
candidates are challenging the incumbent president Julius Mada bio who's seeking a second term his
main rival is samura Kamara who narrowly lost a runoff vote against Mr beo in 2018. Mr Kamara
has complained of vote rigging and says people were prevented from casting their ballots in
two districts the run-up to the election was extremely tense with supporters of both sides
accused of carrying out violence attacks investigators in Can
ada have boarded the
ship that was used to launch the submersible destroyed during a dive to the Titanic wreck
all five people aboard were killed the ship the polar Prince returns to Newfoundland from
where Nami Iqbal sent this report police and safety investigators could be seen boarding the
ship shortly after it docked also arriving was a vessel Towing four white ballast buoyancy tanks
that were used to launch the doomed submersible they were later taken away for inspection
officials fro
m Canada's Transportation safety board have been sent to Saint John's to gather
information conduct interviews and assess what they described as the occurrence the U.S Coast
Guard is also involveda Iqbal in Newfoundland now the Brazilian football star Neymar has been
fined for a second time because of irregularities in the construction of a lake in the grounds of
his Beach filler near Rio de Janeiro local media say he could be ordered to pay up to one million
dollars in penalties for enviro
nmental damage more details from Leonardo Russia the authorities in
the city of manga a popular Beach destination south of Rio De Janeiro had codoned off the area
saying the work breached Environmental Protection rules they said no planning permission had been
given officials said Builders had diverted a local River inside the protected rainforest area to feed
the artificial Lake niema's father tried to stop the inspection and only allowed the officials onto
the property after they threaten
ed to arrest him on Friday Neymar posted pictures online of himself
in the lake Leonardo Russia and now we return to our top story The extraordinary day in Russia
the Wagner leader Evgeni pragosian had said his convoys that were heading towards Moscow would
turn around and return to their bases to avoid Bloodshed on both sides the announcement
follows day-long negotiations conducted by the Belarusian leader Alexander lukashenko with
President Putin's agreement Mr Putin had earlier acknowled
ged that Russia was in the midst of an
armed Mutiny so what does it all really mean for Russia and its people yalda Hakim spoke to our
Russia editor Steve Rosenberg and asked him for his thoughts and observations on the developments
throughout Saturday especially in Moscow remember this is a city which has seen many dramatic events
before one man said to me look we survived 1991. the collapse of the Soviet Union dramatic events
there there were tanks on the streets of Moscow then we survive
d 1993 he told me again very
dramatic events remember that the tanks that were firing at the Russian white house and he
said we'll survive whatever comes today it is a watershed moment it is a very dangerous moment for
Vladimir Putin I mean this is a man who's been in power so long right 23 years and when you've been
in power that long you kind of think that you're invincible and you can survive anything one of
the problems he has is I keep thinking back 16 months to when President Putin an
nounced the the
start of the force Gale invasion of Ukraine what he calls that the special military operation
one of the justifications that he gave back then for doing this was to make Russians safer to
boost National Security for Russia look at what has happened since then drone attacks over
the Kremlin drone attacks in other parts of the of the country intensive shelling of Russian
regions bordering Ukraine Saboteur groups coming across from Ukraine into Russia and now an armed
Rebellio
n armed mercenaries making their way to Moscow demanding the removal of the defense
minister which Vladimir Putin appointed has it made Russians lives safer we don't see greater
security we see greater insecurity over the last few months and that is a problem I think for the
Kremlin you gave us a sense of the resilience of moscovites and the Russian people saying look
we've survived other things like this you know and we'll survive whatever comes now but are
they having a moment of reflecti
on and pause and thinking well how did we get here I think
it's too early to tell I mean public opinion is something which can change quite slowly it'll
be very interesting to gauge any change in public opinion over the next few days or weeks so far I
haven't detected that right and even when I was in Belgrade region a few months ago which was being
shelled and people's lives were less secure people were not joining the dots and blaming the invasion
of Ukraine for their growing insecurity o
ne woman I was speaking to on the street today she said
hang on a second one minutes the authorities are telling us that Wagner a great guy is their Heroes
they're very positive they've been given medals for fighting in the special military operation and
the next we're being told that they're villains it's very difficult she said for us to process
this change the narrative has changed it's turned around 180 degrees some people here are finding
that quite surprising Steve Rosenberg in Moscow
and that's all from us for now there will be
a new edition of the global news podcast later on if you'd like to comment on the podcast
or some of the topics we're covering please do send us an email our address is globalpodcast
bbc.co.uk you can also find us on Twitter we're at globalnewspod this Edition was mixed by Chris
Hanson the producer was Leah mcsheffrey the editor is Karen Martin I'm Chris Barrow and until next
time thanks for listening and goodbye [Music] hello Nairobi I said hel
lo Nairobi [Applause]
hi I'm namilanta combo and my BBC World Service Podcast dear daughter is on the road here in my
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