Wagner’s convoy, which heading to Moscow has about 5,000 fighters led by commander Dmytro Utkin, a source close to the pro-Russian leadership of Ukraine’s Donetsk region said on Saturday, Reuters reports.

Wagner’s company advances to MoscowPhoto: AP / AP / Profimedia

The source, who Reuters notes has proven reliable in the past, said Wagner’s chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had fewer than 25,000 men at his disposal, and that about 5,000 of them were in Rostov-on-Don, a key southern city for the war of Russia in Ukraine, which, according to Prigozhin, he took under control.

The source said that Wagner’s plan for Moscow was to occupy positions in a densely populated area.

The head of the Russian paramilitary group, Wagner Prigozhin, who has called for an uprising against the Russian high command, said on Friday that he had 25,000 men and called on Russians, especially soldiers, to join them. This, he charged, after the Russian regular army strikes Wagner’s positions.

In a series of audio messages on his official Telegram channel, Prigozhin said that the “evil” of the Russian military leadership “must be stopped”:

  • “Those who destroyed our boys, who destroyed the lives of many tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, will be punished. I ask that no one resist.”
  • “There are 25,000 of us and we will determine why the country is in chaos (…) Our strategic reserves are the entire army and the entire country,” Prigozhin said in an audio message, and then went on to call on “everyone who wants to join.” ‘ to ‘get rid of the mess’.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) opened a criminal case against Yevgeny Prigozhin for calling for an armed uprising, and Vladimir Putin accused him of treason.

The head of the Kremlin said that he will defend the Russian people and the homeland, his response will be tough against the ambitions of “endemic forces”, which he accuses of having “stabbed him in the back”.

The Moscow Region has suspended all outdoor activities until July 1, authorities said.

This happened after the mayor urged everyone to refrain from traveling around the city.

Military armored vehicles set up roadblocks at the entrance to Moscow, and Russian media showed small groups of policemen standing at positions with machine guns on the southern outskirts.