The Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov sent letters to the university administrations of the city asking them not to allow students to participate in "unauthorized mass events with the aim of destabilizing the socio-political situation in the city," which the Wagner PMC allegedly plans to hold. This was reported to The Insider by a source in one of the St. Petersburg universities (a copy of the document is at the disposal of the publication).
“In conditions when our country is waging a difficult struggle not only with the Ukrainian fascists, but also with NATO, which has called into question the continued existence of Russia, any provocations within the country are aiding the enemy. In order to prevent the commission of illegal actions, involvement in anti-state activities, we ask you to take measures to prevent the participation of students of the institutions you head in an unauthorized mass event, ”the text of the letter says.
The day before, Telegram channels circulated publications with screenshots allegedly from public pages close to the founder of PMC Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Petersburgers were urged to attend a rally on March 8 against Beglov. Later, in the official public pages associated with Wagner PMC, a refutation of this information appeared: “A wave of posts passed through the Telega, where they try to convince the reader that communities with “Wagner” in their name are allegedly calling for protests. Fake stupid, it is worth noting.
On March 5, Prigozhin scolded Beglov for uncleaned roads in the city, saying that he should be “driven with a filthy broom.” The statement, which was published by the press service of Prigozhin, sounded like this:
“Today I arrived from Bakhmut to St. Petersburg. I can say with confidence that Bakhmut is easier to drive. Either in St. Petersburg, everyone needs to transfer to the BMP, or finally drive out the governor, who is completely out of his mind, with a filthy broom. Do we really not have in St. Petersburg a single manager who did not snicker, did not steal? Just a shame. It hurts to see that the people tolerate the governor, who is absolutely crazy. Any janitor will do better than him. They slipped it on us, and we sit, we endure this lawlessness for almost four years. #BeglovOutFromPetersburg.