A checkpoint broken through by a PMC column on the M4 highway near the Ikorets River south of Voronezh.

Similar checkpoints are now being built on the border of the Tula and Moscow regions. There is also the line where the rebellious columns of PMCs must be stopped at all costs.

In addition to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the troops of the Russian Guard and units of conscripts, additional units of the Russian Defence Ministry with equipment from the regions have been deployed to Moscow from the regions by military transport aircraft.

Translated from Rybar
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Counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: Orekhovsky sector
situation as of 17.00 June 24, 2023

While the whole world is watching the rebellion of the head of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin and the "march of justice" to Moscow, active hostilities continue at the front. And the most intense pressure falls on the Orekhovsky area.

▪️Ukrainian formations advanced 1.5 km north of Rabotino, taking footholds. Reinforcements of special forces from among the 22nd detachment of the Special Forces and the 45th detachment of the Special Forces of the Airborne Forces were transferred to the site to help the infantry units, which, under pressure from the enemy, were forced to retreat.

In the event that the Russian troops succeed in regrouping and seizing the initiative, it is possible to close the advancing enemy groups into a "cauldron" north of Rabotino — at least the RF Armed Forces have enough forces and means in the area.

▪️According to the Archangel of the Spetsnaz, an accumulation of enemy infantry was detected near Nesteryanka: after a successful fire defeat, the Ukrainian formations were dispersed.

▪️Five Hats are still partly in the grey zone, partly under the control of the enemy. There is no confident control of the RF Armed Forces over the settlement, the Russian infantry is working on enemy reinforcements trying to move forward.

🔻In general, there are too many problems in the Zaporozhye direction, so the fighters, to put it mildly, do not pay much attention to the rebellious marches in the rear.

Translated from Rybar
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⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️ Message from the press service of the President of the Republic of Belarus.

This morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin briefed his Belarusian counterpart on the situation in southern Russia with the private military company Wagner. The heads of state agreed on joint actions.
As a follow-up to the agreements, the President of Belarus, having additionally specified the situation through his own channels, and in agreement with the President of Russia, held talks with the head of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Negotiations continued throughout the day. As a result, they came to agreements on the inadmissibility of unleashing a bloody massacre on the territory of Russia. Yevgeny Prigozhin accepted the proposal of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to stop the movement of armed persons of the Wagner company on the territory of Russia and take further steps to de-escalate tensions.

At the moment, on the table is an absolutely profitable and acceptable option for solving the situation, with security guarantees for the Wagner PMC fighters.

As previously reported, also during today, the President of Belarus held two meetings with the power bloc of the country on this situation.

Translated from Tzarov
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They wanted to dissolve PMC "Wagner". On June 23rd we set out on the “March of Justice”. In one day we walked and did not manage 200 km to Moscow.
During this time we have not shed a single drop of the blood of our fighters.

Now is the moment when blood can be shed. Aware of the responsibility of Russian blood being spilled on one side, we turn our columns around and head in the opposite direction to the encampments, according to the plan.

Yevgeny Prigozhin
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Thank you.... There are certain things, that distinguish a man from a boy.
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“Boys, load up, go home!” Detachments of the Wagnerites are preparing to withdraw from the centre of Rostov. Gathering things and getting into cars.

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I watched the president's speech, read the news. If you think about it and try to look at everything with the information that has been in the public domain all this time, then all this has matured for a long time. Prigozhin's only demand was: to call to account those who killed so many of his people (I am silent about the cases in Syria and Africa).

Why it was impossible to sit down and agree with our own, but it became necessary to send aircraft to PMC columns, I don’t know. Just get in touch and meet. Just yesterday. As a result: 2 people or a lot of victims, right up to the Civil War? In my opinion the choice was obvious.

And in my opinion, it is logical that after so many “overturnings” (Palmyra/Africa/shells/closure of access to Frunzenskaya/ignoring the application to the investigative committee) Prigogine had no other options. They didn’t understand him well, so he will do it differently. It seems like he clearly indicated that they are going after two people, but if someone gets in their way, they will be destroyed. I can state that he keeps his words (no matter what emotions I experience). Yes, it is not democratic, but he has already tried to be democratic.

I still hope it doesn't spill over into something bigger.

This is what is on the surface and should be clear if you turn off emotions. I think the reality is much deeper in this whole story and is hidden from the eyes of the average layman.

It can still be stopped and negotiated.
Just two important names need to get in touch with PMC Wagner.

Translated from MilHeliPilot
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Thanks to Lukashenko, it did not went much worse...
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A few photos to remind you how it was.

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3 x Mi-8mtpr (no weapon at all)
1 x Mi-8
1 x Ka-52
1 x Mi-35
1 x IL-18(22) VZPU (no weapon at all)

A total of 13 pilots were killed today.

Colleagues of the crew suggested that there were 8 people in Il-18.

I already thought that the mutiny was slowly acquiring the features of a conspiracy, because the aviation was far from working at full capacity, although pilots were dying for real, but that’s it.
They were negotiating...

Translated from FighterBomber
———————————————————————
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Who is responsible for that? Somehow I do not think, that Wagners... They were shooting anything that flies. As a commander of a platoon of MANPADS in reserve (of the Soviet Army) I can understand that.

After all, Prigozhin did not take an oath. He is a businessman, who is taking responsibility for his employees. He is not an officer, not even a military man (ex jail-bird, as a matter of fact). And those two — Shoigu and Gerasimov — are officers, generals, they should have taken it as privilege to risk their lives for the country, which has been feeding them and their families very generously for the past decades. Their deputies have stayed in Rostov and were communicating with Prigozhin quite amicably. If they would stay there, probably they would not have been shot in an instance. But they would have prevented the risk of a civil war and all those unnecessary victims...

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The holiday of school graduates "Scarlet Sails" was held in St. Petersburg and ended with traditional fireworks and a procession along the Neva of the brig "Russia".

Translated from RIA Novosti
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Live is going on...
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"Exam for maturity": Russia has overcome the turning point of the SMO
RIA Novosti

The past day will go down in history as one of the most formidable in the history of Russia. It could be the beginning of the end for the country we knew. Russia found itself in the face of a danger that claimed millions of lives a century ago.
The details of what happened will be known later, but the main thing is clear so far: the civil war, which with a high degree of probability could turn into yesterday's events, was avoided. The country has managed to learn the lessons of the bloody past.
Never before has an enemy been able to crush Russia from the outside. Her worst troubles began from within. It seemed that today we are witnessing similar processes: at least, the reaction of all opponents in the West and in Ukraine convinced us of this. Those who yesterday instilled fear in them with one name, stood up against their brothers in arms. And they ended up on the same side of the barricades with the enemies of Russia.

Heroes of Artemovsk and Soledar moved columns to Moscow. There are a dozen historical parallels here, if desired. It’s just that you won’t be able to find glorious pages among them.

Until recently, they, risking their lives, took civilians out from under the shelling of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, shed blood — both their own and someone else's — meter by meter, overcoming the dugouts and trenches of the enemy. And now they were moving along the M4 highway to the heart of Russia. And they stopped two hundred kilometres away.
At the moment, it is known that the parties have agreed on the following: Wagner terminates their march to the capital and leaves Rostov-on-Don. The criminal case against Prigozhin will be dropped and he will be able to leave for Belarus on the word of the president. None of the PMC fighters will be prosecuted. If desired, those who did not participate in the rebellion will be able to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defence.
Of course, it is necessary to draw appropriate conclusions from what happened — the threat that the country is facing is too serious to be ignored. And there is very little time for this. With the Ukrainian counteroffensive unfolding, every day of delay will cost the lives of Russian soldiers.
But the main result of what happened is one. On this day, people from both sides clashed, ready to die for Russia. But they refused to kill each other for her.
In general, June 24 is Youth Day. It is symbolic that it was on this holiday that Russia passed the maturity exam and showed that even in critical situations it is able to find a solution at the negotiating table.

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Honestly, there are many questions to the Russian MOD and personally to its head. It all have happened not just because of some abstract "treason" or Prigozhin's ambitions — there is a long story preceding the latest events. Those issues were hushed for too long. Hopefully, the positive outcome would be that eventually they will be properly, honestly and transparently addressed.
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Biden planned to make a statement about the situation with the Wagner PMCs, but while they were explaining to him who Prigozhin is, the mutiny was already over...

As found by our subscriber 🙏
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Lavrov spoke harshly about the psychological state of Zelensky
Lavrov called the words of Biden and Zelensky about the nuclear threat to Russia a violent stream of consciousness

MOSCOW, June 24 — RIA Novosti. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin, called the statements of the presidents of the United States and Ukraine about the nuclear threat from Russia a stormy stream of consciousness and questioned the adequacy of Vladimir Zelensky.
“It is difficult for me to comment on what the US president has been saying lately <...>. I would not now attach too much importance to verbal escapades that have no foundation,” the minister said.

He called Zelensky’s words “an even more violent stream of consciousness,” adding that a medical education is needed to analyse the actions of the Ukrainian president.

"I do not have a medical education. Ursula von der Leyen has a medical education. I cannot be responsible for the psychological state of people who repeatedly, daily prove their inadequacy," the Russian Foreign Minister concluded.

US President Joe Biden said this week that he considers the real threat of Russia's use of tactical nuclear weapons. And Zelensky, in an interview with the BBC, said the world will find a way to deprive Russian leader Vladimir Putin of "life" if he does not stop "threatening nuclear weapons." As Putin emphasized, nuclear weapons are created in order to ensure the security of Russia in the broadest sense of the word, but there is no need to use them.

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There is no choice: Russia will have to launch a nuclear strike on Europe*

Sergey Karaganov for RIA Novosti (op-ed)
* Sergey Karaganov is a Russian political scientist who heads the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy, a security analytical institution founded by Vitaly Shlykov. He is also the dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at Moscow's Higher School of Economics.
It is his private opinion, to which he is entitled... For official position of the Russian government see article above.

For seventy-five years of mutual deterrence, nuclear weapons have saved the world, and people just got used to it. Now we see with our own eyes that nuclear weapons no longer stop, because the unthinkable is happening: the West has unleashed a big war in the underbelly of a great nuclear power.
The official history of the creation of atomic weapons is known, but, from my point of view, there is still a super-idea of its appearance. As if the Lord God saw that a significant part of humanity went mad, having unleashed two world wars during the lifetime of one generation, and handed people nuclear weapons — the weapons of the apocalypse, so that they would have them all the time before their eyes and frighten them.
And now people have lost their fear.

Over the past decades, what I call strategic parasitism has spread in the States, Europe, and even partially in Russia: the belief that there can be no war and never will be. They got used to it, and it is on this soil that the modern Western ideology has grown. Plus, now there is absolutely unprecedented propaganda going on there, which was not even during the years of the Cold War. People are simply fooled, and people are afraid to even say what they really think. As a result, because of these 70 years of peace, the sense of self-preservation has ceased to work in society, and with the help of enchantingly vicious propaganda, this sense of self-preservation is further suppressed, as well as by statements that Russia will never strike at Europe. Official Western propaganda pumps the idea that the West can do anything, and Moscow will tolerate it all. And now it has manifested itself extremely convexly and brightly.

In recent years, Russia has begun to strengthen its nuclear deterrence, but so far the steps being taken are completely insufficient. At some point, we also calmed down, went in line with Western theories and recklessly raised the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, which the West is now using for good reason. There all the time, semi-officials emphasize: no, the Russians will never use nuclear weapons. They want us not to raise even this question under any circumstances, as if clearing the way for them to start an endless war in Ukraine. But given that their military-industrial complex potential is higher than ours, they just want to wear us out.

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Read the continuation here ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Continued from above ⬆️⬆️⬆️
I hope that we never use nuclear weapons, but that we refuse the possibility of using them in all situations, except in the event of a mortal danger to the state itself, seems to me frivolous.
Thus, the States tie the hands of Russia and hope in the long run to blow it up with this long war. And, as a result, to radically weaken its main rival — China, which, in which case, will be alone. This is a strategic intent that is absolutely understandable. Well, in parallel, the Americans, having already thrown the Ukrainian people into the furnace, are pushing Europe there, destroying the positions that it has occupied for five centuries. They are thus solving another problem — they are destroying the Old World as a strategic player and potential strategic competitor. In turn, the comprador European elites are driving their countries and peoples to the slaughter.
I would like to believe that our opponents will come to their senses. Because if not, then the military-political leadership of Russia will face a terrible moral choice and the need to make a difficult decision. But I believe that our president must at some point project his determination to use nuclear weapons.
However, the question arises who can and should be the target of such an attack. The Americans, as we all know, shamelessly lied, saying that we were preparing for strikes against Ukraine. This is a monstrous senselessness, malicious, because, of course, the Ukrainians are an unfortunate deceived people who are being driven to the slaughter. But still, these are our people, we will not hit them. If it comes to nuclear strikes, then we should talk about a number of countries in Europe that provide the greatest assistance to the Kyiv mercenary regime.
Fortunately, we have begun to take steps up the ladder of nuclear deterrence. But we need to move faster and more decisively, although, of course, the use of nuclear weapons is a monstrous step, it should be avoided if possible. But, as the vector of development of the West, its elites and society, their movement towards anti-human and post-human values shows, all this clearly indicates an objective approach to a big thermonuclear war. We must interrupt this process and thus save the world — if possible, of course, avoiding super-tough actions.
We have time, but we need to understand that it is quite short. We must use these few years ahead to solve the problem of the West, to force it to step back and mind its own business, because now it is trying, without solving its problems, to start wars around the world.

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Read the continuation here ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Continued from above ⬆️⬆️⬆️
The launch of a special military operation was a significant and, of course, the right step, although, from my point of view, we should have done it earlier. A number of other measures can be taken. In particular, it is worth conveying to everyone in the West that any strike against Belarus is a strike against Russia and will entail appropriate consequences.
Also among the possible Russian measures may be the redeployment of missiles, testing of our strategic missiles at closer ranges, as well as psychological actions and even the severing of diplomatic relations with countries that play the most active Russophobic role. It is also possible such a measure as warning all Russian speakers, all citizens of the former USSR, all people of good will to leave places that could be potential targets for a nuclear strike. This, too, can be possibly the most powerful instrument of deterrence. Moreover, all these people do not have to go to Russia: let them go to other countries where there are no military installations and which do not help the mercenary Kiev regime, do not supply it with weapons and money — there are a lot of such countries. People should return to Russia not out of fear, but of their own free will.
When discussing the topic of a hypothetical nuclear strike on Europe, the question arises: how will the United States respond to it? Virtually all experts agree that under no circumstances will the Americans respond to a nuclear strike against their allies with a nuclear strike against our territory. By the way, even Biden let it slip openly about it. However, Russian military experts believe that massive retaliatory strikes with conventional weapons may follow. This can be pointed out that in response to a massive non-nuclear strike, even more massive nuclear strikes will be delivered. And they will do away with Europe as a geopolitical entity. Which, of course, we would not want, because, nevertheless, we are Europeans to a certain extent and, to use the words of Dostoevsky, the old European stones are not alien to us.
When discussing such scenarios, the topic of China and its position inevitably arises. Our strategic goals are the same, but the operational ones, of course, diverge. And if I were Chinese, I would not be in a hurry to end the conflict over Ukraine, because it draws the attention and military power of the United States and the West away from China and allows Beijing to accumulate strength. This is a completely normal, I would say, respectful position. And of course, I would not want nuclear weapons to be used. Firstly, for moral and ethical reasons: I think that here we are united with the Chinese. And secondly, because the Chinese still have a small nuclear potential, the movement of military-political competition in this area is now undesirable for him. In ten years they will have a first-class nuclear potential (and even in five or seven years the situation will change), and then the best option to prevent a major thermonuclear war will be one in which a more powerful China will stand at the forefront, and Russia will prop up and cover its like now the Chinese are propping us up.
I perfectly understand the moral anguish of people who say: under no circumstances is the use of nuclear weapons unthinkable and unacceptable. To which I answer them: my friends, I respect pacifists, but they exist and live in this world only because soldiers fight and die for them, as our soldiers and officers in Ukraine are fighting now.

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