Police officers in body armor and with assault rifles stood on the main road connecting Moscow with Voronezh and Rostov-on-Don as Wagner’s motorcade passed through Lipetsk. As Meduza.ro reports, the armored vehicles were brought to the streets of Moscow. However, independent researcher Chris Owen reports, citing the Russian Cheka-OGPU Telegram channel, that the forces deployed to defend Moscow are not enough to stop Wagner’s mercenaries, and defense units are expected to surrender to Prigozhin.

It appears that Wagner’s forces are moving north towards Moscow.

The governor of the Lipetsk region, Ihor Artamonov, confirmed that Wagner equipment was advancing into the region, despite social media showing images of excavators digging into the road in the region to prevent Prigozhin’s forces from advancing.

Moscow is only 400 km away, and as the Wagnerites advance, they are offered amnesty if they lay down their arms.

“Wagner’s fighters can still lay down their weapons and avoid punishment, given their achievements during the special operation (in Ukraine), but it must be done quickly,” – TASS quotes People’s Deputy Pavlo Krasheninnikov.

Prigozhin says his men are on a “march for justice” to remove corrupt and incompetent commanders, whom he blames for failings and sending people to certain death during the war in Ukraine.

In a televised speech from the Kremlin, Putin said that Russia’s very existence was under threat.

“We are fighting for the life and safety of our people, for our sovereignty and independence, for the right to remain Russia, a state with a thousand-year history,” he said.

“All those who deliberately took the path of treason, who prepared an armed uprising, who took the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will bear the inevitable punishment, will answer both to the law and to our people.”

Security and armored barriers on the streets of Moscow, but Russian channels report that the capital’s authorities are not ready to confront Wagner

In the Russian Telegram channel of the Cheka-OGPU, named after the first secret police of Soviet Russia, information is spreading that this morning the police generals held an emergency meeting at the Ministry of Internal Affairs to prepare the defense of the capital, but there are no security forces. conditions for fighting Wagner. A source in the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that “no one in the police is ready for combat operations. Absolutely no one.”

Another source, cited by independent researcher Chris Owen, says that the forces deployed to defend Moscow are not enough to stop them and defense units are surrendering to the Wagner Group.

“Even the police special forces, Grome, are not capable of conducting combat operations with Wagner’s attack aircraft. It’s one thing to go into an apartment and shoot down people who oppose, and another thing to have as opponents people who are really ready to die.

Russian media showed images of small groups of militia with assault rifles on the southern outskirts of Moscow and an increased security presence on the streets. The Red Square was fenced off with metal barriers.

The BBC reported that improvised checkpoints appeared at the entrances to Moscow from the south, and, as reported by Meduza.ro, armored vehicles were brought to the streets of the Russian capital.