Vietnamese in Russia recall anxious day when Wagner Group mutinied

On Saturday morning Hoang, who lives in Rostov was awakened by a phone call. He did not pick up, but his sleepiness was quickly dispelled when he saw it was his cousin’s number.

“I was going to call him back, but then received many phone calls from Vietnamese merchants at the market,” Hoang, who owns a business in the market in Rostov-on-Don, the capital of Rostov, told VnExpress.

Other merchants called him to say that security would not let them enter the market. Hoang immediately called the executive director and was surprised to hear him speak in a serious tone.

“He told me the province was dealing with a terrorist situation, and all Vietnamese had to stay inside.”

When Hoang reached the market, he and the others were shocked to know that troops working for the private military company Wagner Group were on their way to Rostov-on-Don.

A tank with Wagner troops on a street of Rostov-on-Don, Russia on June 24, 2023. Photo by AFP

Early that morning Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin had brought thousands of his troops from the battlefield in Ukraine across the border back to Russia after accusing the Ministry of Defense of conducting an air strike on their training camps that caused massive casualties.

Wagner announced it had occupied Russian military facilities in Rostov and then controlled more of them in Voronezh, 500 km from Moscow.

The Ministry of Defense denied Prigozhin’s allegations. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced it was investigating Prigozhin for “inciting sedition.”

Hai Pham, 26, a student in Rostov-on-Don said: “Very loud explosions came from the other side of the river from where I live. I can still see black smoke rising into the sky in the distance.”

Traffic from Rostov-on-Don to other cities was immediately blocked. Hoang was still bewildered when he received a call from the Vietnamese embassy in Moscow to tell him about the situation and what he should do.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommended that Vietnamese citizens living in the southern cities of Russia and Moscow should obey the laws and follow the instructions issued by authorities. They should stay at home and refrain from participating in mass gatherings and going on long trips, it said.

Realizing that the Wagner troops did not harm anyone when they took over the headquarters of the Southern Military District of Russia, Hoang told Vietnamese in the area to go home, keep in touch and notify others not to go to the market and stay put until they got further updates.

Hai was told to temporarily stop working at his part-time job in a restaurant near his house as well.

Prigozhin claimed it was a “march for justice” and control of Rostov-on-Don to force the chief of the general staff and the defense minister to come and meet him.

At noon on Saturday, June 24, Wagner troops continued to enter Voronezh city to the south of Moscow and claimed control of the military facilities there.

That was when Tran Nguyen Giap in Voronezh heard a loud explosion when he went shopping with his family at the Stit-Park market. The 20-year-old student did not know at the time that the Wagner troops had taken control of the military facilities in Rostov-on-Don and were entering his city.

“We and everyone around us rushed back home after hearing the explosion,” he said, adding that Russian troops, tanks and helicopters had already arrived.

Russian authorities announced an anti-terrorist operation in the area, issued travel restrictions and schools prohibited students from leaving their dormitories.

An oil depot in Voronezh was on fire following a loud explosion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin later spoke on television, condemning Wagner’s rebellion as an act of treason. The defense ministry called on Wagner troops to stop rebelling in return for guarantees of their safety.

Giap’s family returned home safely and stayed put until further notice, as authorities recommended.

“Everyone put aside their plans for the day amid the confusion and tension,” Giap said.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin requested citizens to avoid going out since the city was in anti-terrorist mode.

He said the situation was “difficult” and announced that people would be off work on Monday to “minimize risks.”

Fighters of Wagner private mercenary group transport a tank along M-4 highway, which links the capital Moscow with Russia’s southern cities, with smoke from a burning oil depot seen in the background, near Voronezh, Russia, June 24, 2023. Photo by Reuters/Stringer

Vietnamese in Moscow said however that the security situation remained stable on Saturday due to the military’s high vigilance.

People continued to go to the suburbs for barbecue parties and out shopping and eating on the weekend though some major events were canceled.

Van Anh, a Vietnamese student in Moscow, said: “Necessary measures were taken and the authorities have promptly reassured people, and so they believe the problem will soon be solved. There is no major confusion or disturbance to daily life.”

Meanwhile, despite being under Wagner’s control, the situation in Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh was not too serious as there was no fighting and civilians were completely unaffected.

Hoang said people in Rostov-on-Don stopped worrying once the situation became clearer.

In Voronezh, Giap’s family’s fears also quickly passed once their neighborhood got heavy protection from the military.

On Saturday night Prigozhin ordered Wagner troops to return to their bases to “avoid bloodshed” after reaching an agreement with the Kremlin for his criminal case to be dropped and left Russia for Belarus.

The Wagner troops then withdrew from Rostov-on-Don, ending what is believed to be the most serious security crisis in Russia in decades.

Hoang said that by Sunday the life of the Vietnamese community in his city had returned to normal.

“The situation in Voronezh has also returned to normal, although the fire in the oil depot has not been completely put out.”

Giap, who has lived for 10 years in Voronezh, said: “Everyone wants the military tension to end so that life in Russia can return to peace as before.”