‘Panicked’ Vladimir Putin flees Moscow to bunker in ‘secret palace’ after Wagner rebellion

Russia’s President Vladmir Putin and his closes allies are said to have fled Moscow and are now hiding in a secret bunker after mercenaries stormed the country in what has been called an attempted coup.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Wagner, the mercenary army that was fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, took control of Rostov-on-Don, a city in the country. They stormed barricades as they seized it before marching towards Moscow.

Moscow, the capital, has been put under a terror alert in response to the advancing coup party. And Putin, who has effectively ruled Russia since 1999, fled the capital, reports the Mirror.

Also read: Phillip Schofield savagely mocked at Glastonbury as Holly Willoughby parties in helicopter

Two presidential jets flew from Moscow towards St Petersburg and it is thought that important officials from the Kremlin, including the president, were on board. To avoid being tracked, they turned off the transponders that would show their route.

Putin’s foe and businessman Leonid Nevzlin said: “Putin is hiding in the bunker of his residence in Valdai. His closest friends and associates also flew there. The dictator is in a panic. Additional troops advanced towards Valdai to protect it. This has just been reported by my sources.”

Nevzlin is a vocal critic of Russian government and Putin who renounced his Russian citizenship in 2022 over the war. Upon his renouncement of citizenship, he said: “Everything that Putin touches dies. Russian citizenship itself has become a mark of disgrace that I no longer want to bear.”

Closer to Moscow, troops loyal to Putin have taken control of roads and are placing sandbags on the sides to stop the coup forces from advancing. The rebel group claims to have seized Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, and there are reports that they also control important places in Voronezh, a city to the north.

In a surprising turn of events, Yevgeny Prigozhin has agreed to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s proposal to halt the Wagner Group’s progress towards Moscow, as stated by the Belarus dictator. According to the press service of the Belarusian president, Prigozhin will take further steps to reduce tensions. Prigozhin himself has not commented on this yet. Lukashenko had been in constant communication with Prigozhin throughout the day.

All large outdoor events in Moscow have been canceled for at least one week, according to the authorities. Earlier today, the governor of the Lipetsk region, located south of Moscow, confirmed that Wagner forces were moving through the region. Videos show a convoy heading north toward the city.

Footage from other regions along their route, some of which the BBC has verified, appears to show explosions. The leader of the mercenaries, Prigozhin, claims that his convoys have been attacked. In a national speech this morning, Putin expressed that Russia’s future is at risk, describing the actions of the rebels as a betrayal.