June 25, 2023

A Day To Remember in Rostov-on-Don


A Day To Remember in Rostov-on-Don
A graduation on Rostov-on-Don with Wagner Group soldiers in the background. War Monitor, Twitter.

On June 23, Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin released a video on Telegram that unleashed the greatest threat President Vladimir Putin has faced in his multi-decade presidency: the next day, Rostov-on-Don awoke to Wagner mercenaries and tanks patrolling its streets.

How did Rostovans live through that moment?

The governor of Rostov Oblast, Vasily Golubev, issued stay-at-home orders three times, but Rostovans ignored him. DOXA collected testimonies of witnesses, who reported seeing some residents taking selfies with military equipment and wearing Wagner merch. Pavel, an anonymous Rostovan, said people approached the tanks as if there were "a second May 9 [Victory Day] parade." 

Most essential services such as hospitals, markets, and public transportation – excluding trolleybuses – continued operating. City properties, including the Don Public Library and Loga Park, were closed. The "Tom Sawyer Fest," a festival that gathers volunteers to restore monuments of historical relevance, suspended its activities, along with other weekend festivals. Students were told to stay in their dorms and take exams online. The UK and Italian visa application centers announced they would be closed for several days. But the city's zoo remained open.

Meanwhile, transport agencies reported a spike in demand for train tickets out of the city. No bus tickets were sold to cities where the highways were blocked. The governor of the oblast also reported residents had rushed to gas stations.

Late in the evening, Rostovan gathered to watch tanks retreat from the city after Prigozhin agreed to retreat and leave for Belarus.

You Might Also Like

Prigozhin's Uprising
  • June 24, 2023

Prigozhin's Uprising

Russia's home-grown mercenaries have taken over Rostov-on-Don and threaten to march on the capital.
  • June 14, 2023

"Go Defend Your Homeland"

In Chechnya, law enforcement uses threats and blackmail to send LGBT persons, drug users, and "disloyal" citizens to war.
The Wizard and His Little Wagners
  • March 09, 2023

The Wizard and His Little Wagners

The Wagner Group's new youth club sponsors pro-militaristic activities and suggests it undertakes recruitment by hypnosis.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955