Wagner Group rebellion facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Wagner Group rebellion
Part of the Wagner Group–MoD conflict during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Map of the Wagner Group's advances into Rostov-on-Don and towards Moscow after emerging from Russian-occupied Ukraine
Date 23–24 June 2023 (2023-06-23 – 2023-06-24) (1 day) Location Russia Result Wagner mercenaries halt advance after ~23 hours and begin withdrawing at 11:00 p.m. local time (see: § Resolution)
Belligerents
PMC Wagner	Russia  Ministry of Defense  Armed Forces  FSB  National Guard  Kadyrovites
Commanders and leaders
Yevgeny Prigozhin	Vladimir Putin  Sergei Shoigu  Valery Gerasimov Alexander Bortnikov  Viktor Zolotov  Ramzan Kadyrov
Strength
8,000–25,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
2 killed Several wounded 5 vehicles destroyed	13–29 killed 1–6 helicopter(s) shot down 1 Il-22M airborne command-center plane shot down 2 vehicles captured

On 23 June 2023, the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, engaged in a major uprising against the Government of Russia. It marked the climax of the Wagner Group–Ministry of Defense conflict, which had begun about six months earlier. Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, who had been leading Wagner Group activities in Ukraine, stood down after reaching an agreement a day later.

Prigozhin had come to publicly express his resentment towards Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov; he frequently blamed both men for Russia's military inadequacies. He portrayed the Wagner Group's rebellion as his response to the Russian Armed Forces allegedly attacking and killing hundreds of his Wagner mercenaries, which the Russian government denied. Characterizing it as a "march of justice" against the Russian military establishment, he demanded that Shoigu and Gerasimov be removed from their positions. In the early morning of 24 June, President of Russia Vladimir Putin appeared in a televised address to denounce the Wagner Group's actions as treason before pledging to quell their uprising.

Wagner mercenaries first seized Rostov-on-Don, where the Southern Military District is headquartered, while an armored column of theirs advanced through Voronezh Oblast and towards Moscow. Ground defenses were concentrated on the approach to Moscow, but before Wagner Group could reach them, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko brokered a settlement with Prigozhin, who subsequently agreed to halt the rebellion. In the late evening of 24 June, Wagner troops abandoned their push to Moscow and those who remained in Rostov-on-Don began withdrawing.

In accordance with Lukashenko's agreement, Russia's Federal Security Service, which had initiated a case to prosecute the Wagner Group for armed rebellion against the Russian state under Article 279 of the Criminal Code, dropped all charges against Prigozhin and his Wagner fighters on 27 June. By the end of the hostilities, at least thirteen Russian soldiers had been killed and several Wagner mercenaries had been injured; Prigozhin stated that two defectors from the Russian military had been killed on Wagner's side as well. On 23 August 2023, exactly two months after the rebellion, Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash alongside other senior Wagner officials.