Civilian car hit instead of the Wagner PMC military convoy in Russia

24 June, 2023 The explosion of a civilian car on the highway in the Voronezh region, June 24, 2023. A frame from a video from social media In Russia, combat aircraft are used to counter the advance of the mercenary convoys of Wagner PMC in the direction of Moscow.

This is evidenced by eyewitness videos published on social networks, as well as in Russian propaganda publications. The Russians use helicopters and fighter jets. One of the published videos shows how Russian aviation tries to strike a convoy of the Wagner PMC in the Voronezh region, but hits a civilian car instead.

The footage portrays a powerful explosion, the Russians likely used an aerial bomb. It is reported that the driver and passenger were killed as a result of the air strike.

Eyewitnesses also published a video from another district of the Voronezh region of the Russian Federation. The photo captures the effects of the airstrike on the section of the M-4 highway near the settlement of Verkhny Mamon.

For this attack, the Russian aviation probably used high-explosive bombs. The explosions left large craters. However, even these photos show that the Russian bombs did not hit the highway where the Wagner PMC mercenaries could travel, but the roadside.

Therefore, the effectiveness of such an attack is unknown, and no destroyed or damaged equipment is visible on the road. Also, the Russian media reported on another case of damage to a car in the Voronezh region near the village of Bugaivka, but it is not clear from the published video whether it was a military or a civilian car. As previously reported, on June 24, PMC Wagner blocked the city of Rostov-on-Don. Mercenaries took control of the headquarters of the Southern Military District, the directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, as well as the military airfield Millerovo.

On the evening of June 23, the head of the Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin accused the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation of striking the rear positions of the PMC Wagner mercenaries. The owner of PMC Wagner said that 25,000 of his subordinates were starting the March of Justice against the military leadership of the Russian Federation.

In particular, against Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to neutralize the PMC Wagner mercenaries.

The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation qualifies Prigozhin's actions as the organization of an armed rebellion.