The governor of Rostov, a Russian region in neighboring Ukraine, called on people to stay at home on Saturday night in the face of an insurgency by an armed group Wagner claimed had entered the eponymous regional capital.
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“Police are taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of the residents of the area. I ask everyone to remain calm and do not leave the house unless necessary,” Vasily Golubev wrote in Telegram.
Wagner’s chief, who says he has 25,000 troops, had earlier said in an audio message that the forces had crossed into Russia from Ukraine, where they were stationed and entered the city of Rostov.
He says he wants to fire Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Kurasimov, accusing him of bombing his troops in Ukraine and killing tens of thousands of people.
“We continue, we will go to the end”, “we will destroy everything that comes in our way”, said Yevgeny Prigozhin.
He also claimed that Wagner had shot down a Russian military helicopter.
The governor of the Russian region of Lipetsk, 420 km south of Moscow, announced “reinforced security measures” on Saturday night after the paramilitary group Wagner declared an armed rebellion.
“Special attention will be paid to critical infrastructure (for security),” wrote Igor Artamov in Telegram, calling on people to “remain calm” and avoid traveling south, towards Ukraine’s Russian border areas.
