The four Mysticals, Orak, Verum, Scorch, and Felix, were best friends. They did everything together. They went to school together and they even studied together. And today, they were doing just that. The Mysticals had their heads buried in books. They were prepping for a school test.
“I can’t study anymore,” Felix yawned, “Is there any news from the human world, Verum?”
Verum looked into her crystal ball and said, “Yes, there is news from Russia, a country spanning two continents, Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. The President of Russia Vladimir Putin just put an end to a rebellion against his rule.”
“What’s a rebellion?” Scorch wanted to know.
“A rebellion is an armed fight against the ruling leader or the government of a country. The fighters are known as rebels. Their motive is to overthrow the leader or the government,” Verum explained.
“Tell us more about the rebellion in Russia. Who started it?” Orak said, closing his notebooks.
“A group called PMC Wagner started it. PMC Wagner is a private army group consisting of mercenaries (soldiers who fight for money) formed by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. There are 25,000 soldiers in this group.
The Wagner group has been fighting alongside the Russian Army in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. But Prigozhin had many disputes with the Russian military chiefs. He accused the chiefs of failure in the war and being against his army. So, on June 23, Prigozhin and his soldiers moved out of Ukraine. They started their ‘march for justice’ towards Moscow.”
“How did Putin deal with this rebellion?” Scorch said.
“Prigozhin used to be Putin’s ally. But seeing his actions, Putin accused him of treason. Treason is the crime of betraying one’s country. After talks, Prigozhin asked his soldiers to stand down and return to their base. And the rebellion ended within 24 hours,” Verum said.
“What will happen to Prigozhin now?” Orak said.
“Well, he has agreed to move out of Russia. He has been exiled (removed from home country due to political reasons or treason) to Belarus, a country in Eastern Europe,” Verum said.
“That was an intense and short-lived rebellion! I am fully awake now. Back to studying!” quipped Felix. The others giggled and buried their head in books again.