Mercenary chief claims to have seized southern Russian city ‘without a single gunshot’

Mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claims that his troops entered the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don without a single shot and says that no one was killed during what he calls a “march of justice.”

Prigozhin says in a new audio statement that “we didn’t touch a single conscript, we didn’t kill a single person on our way.” He adds that the Russian air force targeted his troops, but they still managed to seize military headquarters in Rostov “without a single gunshot.”

His claims can’t be independently verified. The Russian authorities haven’t reported any casualties so far, either.

Shortly before Prigozhin released his statement, an explosion was heard near the military headquarters his Wagner group apparently controls in Rostov. It’s not immediately clear where the explosion occurred, how big it was and whether it caused any damage.