The head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has announced that his private army has crossed the Russian border and is entering the Rostov region in the south of the country, after declaring in absentia against the Russian Defense Ministry. “We’ve crossed the state line everywhere. The border guards would come out and hug our fighters. Now we are entering Rostov,” he said in an audio posted on his Telegram channel.

The Federal Service of Russia has opened a criminal case on Friday against Wagner’s leader, Yevgeni Prigozhin, for inciting armed rebellion after he accused the Russian Defense Ministry of attack training camps of the paramilitary group.

“The accusations spread on behalf of Yevgeny Prigozhin are groundless. In connection with these statements, the Russian Federal Security Service has opened a criminal case for calling for an armed rebellion,” the National Anti-Terrorist Committee reported, according to has picked up the TASS news agency.

The Russian Penal Code punishes with penalties of imprisonment between 12 and 20 years the armed rebellion, which seeks to “overthrow or forcibly change the constitutional system of the Russian Federation, as well as violate the territorial integrity” of Moscow.

Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov has assured that Russian President Vladimir Putin is aware of the situation surrounding Prigozhin, without offering more details about ithas picked up the Interfax news agency.

Previously, a Telegram channel of the mercenary organization has denounced that “a missile attack against Wagner training grounds” had been launched and that he had left “many victims.” “The coup has been delivered (…) by soldiers from the Russian Ministry of Defense,” the message highlights.

The Wagner Group has warned that has up to 25,000 paramilitaries in its ranks and that they are going to “find out why this chaos is happening”, which they assure “is true”. “All those who want can join. We must put an end to this disgrace,” the organization said, adding that it is necessary to “stop evil” within the Russian military leadership. In addition, Wagner has promised to “arrest” Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whom he accuses of having fled to Rostov to carry out an armed attack from there against the paramilitary group. “This is not a military coup. This is a march for justice”, he has concluded.

Tension in Rostov

Following the Wagner leader’s threats of a possible military coup against Moscow, several local media have disseminated images showing military vehicles in the center of the city of Rostov, where Shoigu is apparently located, although this information is not official at the moment, the newspaper ‘The Moscow Times’ has collected.

Several Telegram channels also publish that Russia has put its troops on alert and that border controls have been strengthened with the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, as reported by the Meduza news portal.

In addition, Russian security forces have begun to block and block streets in Rostov, where the military presence is apparently being reinforced, and a plan called ‘Fortaleza’ would be underway, although the information for the moment is confusing and the state news agencies are silent on the matter.

The leadership of the Wagner Group, which is fighting on the Russian side in the war in Ukraine, has been critical of the Russian military authorities and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whom, among other things, they criticized for the lack of supplies and ammunition during the battle for Bakhmut.