 Residents of Rostov-on-Don looked on as mercenaries from Wagner's private military group took over a main street in the southern Russian city on June 24, after the rebellious Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigazin said he had taken control. In an attempt to oust the military leadership Prigazin demanded that Russian defense minister Sergei Shoygu and Valerie Jarazimov, the chief of the general staff, whom he has pledged to oust over what he says is their disastrous leadership of the war against come to see him in Rostov, a city near the Ukrainian border. He had earlier said that he had 25,000 fighters moving towards Moscow to restore justice and had alleged, without providing evidence, that the military had killed a huge number of fighters from his Wagner private militia in an airstrike, something the defense ministry denied. One Russian security source told Reuters Wagner fighters had also taken control of military facilities in the city of Voronezh, which is about 500 kilometers, 310 miles south of Moscow. Reuters could not independently confirm that assertion or many of the details provided by Prigazin.