As Russia slides into a frightening civil war seemingly overnight, “Top Gun”-style footage of a Russian Ka-52 Army helicopter managing to deflect a Wagner anti-aircraft missile in Voronezh was among a spate of stunning videos Saturday showing how fast it appears to be going wrong for President Vladimir Putin.
The Strela-10 air defense system, reportedly belonging to the Wagner private mercenary forces led by one-time Putin ally Yevgeny Progozhin, was seen firing at the Russian Ka-52 military helicopter in Voronezh, which is about 300 miles from Moscow.
Another video showed the missile just missing the Ka-52 helicopter.
Footage of a Russian Ka-52 Army helicopter was seen deflecting a Wagner anti-aircraft missile in Voronezh. via REUTERS
The Wagner paramilitary group claimed that one of their vehicles was targeted by Russian forces on June 24, 2023. via REUTERSAnother video showed a strike on what appeared to be a Wagner-led convoy heading for Moscow on the M-4 highway.
Putin, who reportedly fled from Moscow to St. Petersburg on his private jet, seemed to be caught flat-footed by the Prigozhin’s betrayal.
Everything to know about the Wagner Group's attack on Russia
Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his mercenary fighting force will not face charges and will instead be exiled despite leading an armed insurrection against Moscow on Saturday, the Kremlin said.
Prigozhin, owner and founder of the mercenary organization, called for an armed rebellion and threatened to rush Moscow in order to oust the official whom he accused of ordering the bombing of his war camps in Ukraine.
However, Prigozhin eventually agreed to halt the Wagner Group’s advance on Moscow just 120 miles from the capital after a day-long negotiation the mercenary leader had with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who was given permission to broker a deal with Progozhin by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin’s presidential plane left Moscow early Saturday, sparking rumors that he had fled the Russian capital as the Wagner Group’s forces advanced on the city.
The president’s aircraft was spotted on flight radar flying northwest from Moscow to the St. Petersburg area — but then disappeared from the system near the city of Tver, the BBC reported, where Putin owns a large rural retreat.
Hardened fighters from his private militia have seized control of Rostov-on-Don, a city of nearly a million on the Ukraine border that serves as the rear logistical hub for Russia’s entire invasion force, and were moving rapidly north through western Russia.
A nearby explosion at an oil depot occurred while Wagner’s private mercenary forces were allegedly firing missiles at the Russian helicopter. ZUMAPRESS.comIn the capital, traffic on the Moscow River came to a halt as cops in bulletproof vests and armed with machine guns were spotted near the entrance of the major highway that links Moscow with Voronezh and Rostov-on-Don in apparent expectation of the oncoming Wagner convoy.
