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A large city, a logistic and military hub in southern Russia, crucial for connections with neighboring Ukraine and with Crimea annexed by Moscow. It’s Rostov-on-Don, the city whose military sites Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed to have taken control of after a night of confusion and chaos.
Crucial junction for Ukraine
Rostov-on-Don is the largest urban center in southern Russia and ranks around tenth among the country’s most populous cities with over one million inhabitants. It is a hundred kilometers from the border with Ukraine and that is why it is so important for Moscow’s military operations in the country it invaded in February 2022.
WHERE THE RUSSIAN REBELS HAVE ARRIVED AND WHERE THEY WANT TO ARRIVE
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Tenth Russian city
The city is of great strategic importance as the seat of the Southern Military District Command and the Central Command for the Joint Group of Forces in Ukraine. Thus the city represents a crucial logistics hub for what Moscow calls ‘the special operation’ in Ukraine. Not only that, but it is located along the route that leads to Krasnodar and Kerch, the city from which the bridge to Crimea starts, inaugurated in 2018 and essential as the only direct land passage between Russia and Crimea. It is considered the “gateway to the Caucasus” because it connects Russia with the mountainous region rich in raw materials.
During the Second World War it was controlled for a few months by the German forces and suffered serious damage from bombing.
Putin admits the difficulties
What Vladimir Putin today admitted was a “difficult situation” in Rostov due to the “armed uprising” could have immediate consequences on the conflict in Ukraine. In the videos posted this morning on Telegram, Prigozhin claimed to be with his mercenaries at the military command headquarters in Rostov, but maintained that he does not intend to block the Russian war effort.