Citizens Enjoy Cheers
Exchanging Handshakes and Selfies
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary company Wagner Group who led an armed rebellion, was captured on camera seemingly withdrawing from the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, which had been under his control.
AP News released a photo showing "Yevgeny Prigozhin leaving Rostov-on-Don in a car."
In the photo, Prigozhin is seen inside a black large van, waving his hand out the window, shaking hands with citizens, and enjoying their cheers.
Some local residents around the scene cheered and applauded Prigozhin, approached him to shake hands, and there were also scenes of citizens taking selfies with their faces toward the window.
People are shouting while waving the flag of the Wagner Group. Photo by AP [Image source=AP Yonhap News]
The location can be identified by the banners and building exteriors captured in the photo, but the date of the shooting is unknown.
Earlier, Prigozhin had launched an armed rebellion by seizing the southern cities of Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh, demanding the removal of the Russian military leadership, but announced a withdrawal on the 24th, just one day later.
In an audio message released that day, Prigozhin stated, "To avoid bloodshed within Russia, I ordered the troops heading toward Moscow to withdraw again," adding, "They tried to dismantle the Wagner Group, and on the 23rd, we began the march of justice. Within a day, we had come to within nearly 200 km of Moscow."
Local residents are posing for photos with Wagner Group military company soldiers sitting on military vehicles on Rostov-on-Don street. Photo by AP [Image source=AP Yonhap News]
According to the British BBC, Prigozhin and Wagner Group soldiers advancing toward Moscow agreed to accept a mediation proposal from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and withdrew their forces. On that day, the Belarusian presidential office announced, "Under an agreement with President Putin, President Lukashenko negotiated with Prigozhin," and "Both sides agreed that bloodshed within Russia is unacceptable."
President Putin, who had delivered an emergency national address the previous day condemning the rebels and vowing to "punish" them, reportedly accepted the agreement and made a conciliatory gesture. Thus, the Wagner Group's rebellion, which shook all of Russia, was temporarily resolved within a day.
Although the rebellion appears to have subsided for now with Prigozhin accepting the mediation proposal, the Putin regime’s anxiety is expected to grow, as it remains uncertain when and where such a military rebellion might start again in the future.
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