Military coup in Rostov-on-Don
June 25th, 2023Yesterday was definitely the weirdest and the most confusing day in my life. My city is famous worldwide now, lol.
In the evening of June 23th I was preparing for sleep, when suddenly friends started PMing me telling that something is happening.
I live 1.5 hours away from the border with Ukraine, so such fear-mongering news aren't something new, even though nothing ever happened before. I said that I couldn’t care less and that it’s an another psyop. 10 minutes later I wasn’t that sure anymore because there were photos of tanks in the center of Rostov.
The next day I woke up at 6 AM (I had to take calculus exam at 8 AM) wondering how I should drive to my university because all of the main roads were blocked. My classmate, who lives in another city, said that her bus was stopped at the entrance to the Rostov and turned back. One hour before the exam it was canceled and postponed indefinitely.
More tanks arrived, city center was cordoned off by machine-gunners. Rostov governor asked everyone to avoid leaving the house. At roughly 2 PM there was a confusing explosion and some gunfire. Didn’t scare off the curious people though.
As hours passed, the tension grew. All roads in and out of the city were blocked, some were mined. Oil depot in Voronezh and a military helicopter were blown up. Everyone was sure that there will be a big fight this night.
Around 9 PM the coup was suddenly over, leaving everyone confused. Not gonna lie, I was a bit disappointed, because now I have to take the exam, my mother has to file reports and my boyfriend has to go to work on Monday.
It really was a psyop, huh.
The funniest thing from the day is that a tank somehow got stuck in the gates of Rostov circus and spent the whole day like that. Nobody knows how it got into the circus in the first place.
Wagner soldiers were very friendly, talking with citizens and showing them stuff, for example letting to hold their rifles. Everyone was taking pictures with soldiers, giving them food and drinks.
Their departure was remarkable and looked more like a festival: people weren't that agitated even during the 2018 FIFA World Cup (Rostov was one of the venues). Notice the flowers in tank's barrel.
be careful, the video is loud
