PMC “Wagner” occupied part of the city in the area of the headquarters of the Southern Military District, however, it is impossible to say that the whole of Rostov-on-Don is under the control of fighters of one army private countryside. In addition, a large convoy of vehicles of fighters from the Chechen Ahmad unit is approaching the city from the north, confirmed Sergey Smirnov, a deputy of the local city Duma, on Russian media special air.
According to him, the Wagner group is concentrated in the area of the general staff of the southern military district in the city center: it occupied certain streets, blocked the buildings of the FSB and the Ministry of the Interior. At the same time, the deputy noted, it cannot be said that local law enforcement “surrendered”, but information about the shooting or explosion in the city center was slightly exaggerated.
“It was not an explosion, but they nevertheless confirmed that it was something like a stun grenade in order to lightly chase people who crowded there, communicate with representatives of the Wagner PMC. Someone is outraged, someone brings him food, that is, every time everyone has their own opinion,” Smirnov explained.
He also said checkpoints were set up at the entrance to the city by Wagner PMC. In addition, the fighters of the private military campaign “mined the entrances and laid mines on the road”, the deputy of the City Duma added.
“I myself approached the group standing at the northern entrance to Rostov. They have mines, an anti-aircraft gun, anti-tank grenade launchers laid out in front of the cars. I approached, I asked: “Hi guys. Explain to me what you are doing here, what do you want to achieve? They said, “We have an order, we are doing our duty. This is where our conversation ended,” he said.
However, Smirnov stressed, “it cannot be said that the city is under the control of Wagner’s PMC: for example, the headquarters of the Southern Military District is functioning normally and continues to manage the military operation.
“Also, now Ahmad, large columns of cars are approaching the city from the north, and they are entering the city through the Aksai entrance,” the MP added.
Videos of a convoy approaching Rostov-on-Don with Ahmad fighters have already appeared on telegram channels, including the one reported by Base And “Watch out for the news” .
The Russian media interlocutor suggested that the Wagner group managed to enter the city, because the law enforcement agencies guarding Rostov-on-Don “did not have the strength to stop them.” “Imagine, there is a military group with tanks. In other words, the guys have a lot of weapons. It’s not just people on carts: tanks, MLRS – they have everything. And it goes without saying that the people who defended Rostov, the power structures, were not ready for such operations,” admitted Smirnov.
In addition, he added, it was only after the Russian President’s speech that it became clear that priorities had been set and units from the Ministry of Defense and Ahmad moved in in the city.
“That is to say, there is no doubt that the whole of Rostov is under the control of the Wagner PMC. Yes, there are areas in the city center, certainly. But the whole city lives the mostly his own life. By the way, I would like to note that PMC Wagner does not interfere with the work of municipal structures: the station operates as usual, transport operates as usual, checkpoints monitor, but do not interfere with traffic in any way,” the MP said.
At the same time, according to him, such actions of the PMC “Wagner” can still lead to death among the civilian population if a cleansing of the group in the city begins, which should be expected, given the rhetoric and the nature of the President’s speech. address. In addition, the MP pointed out that the anti-terrorist operation regime has not yet been introduced in the region.
“The city as such, the different parts of the city, especially those that are far from the center, generally live their own lives. There is no army, there are no checkpoints. In the center – yes, there are a lot of curious people, unfortunately, who are now near the building of the southern military district, they really communicate with the Wagner PMC, such a night walk to watch what is happening there,” Smirnov concluded. .
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