A mercenary is a "soldier of fortune," and can be considered a gun-for-hire, and others that refer to a person who joins a military conflict for personal gains.

In Russia, the most famous would be the Wagner Group, the Russian paramilitary organization that resembles more like a private military company than just some group of mercenaries working for money, due to how members receive equipment directly from the Russian Ministry of Defense, and receive the same training as the Russian Army.

During Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the group has played a significant role, in which among others, include alleged deployment of hired soldiers to assassinate Ukrainian leaders.

But on 23 June 2023, the de facto leader of the private army Yevgeny Prigozhin launched an armed rebellion after accusing the Russian military of killing Wagner forces.

In appeared to be an attempt of a coup, tension rose.

And in anticipation, a number of Russian internet service providers (ISPs) started blocking access to some other news sources from the West, and those that they deem a threat.

At least five telecommunications companies, which include U-LAN, Telplus, and Rostelecom, have started blocking a number of domains, preventing from being accessed from inside Russia.

But the most notable, is Google News, because it aggregates news from various sources.

Russia’s internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, said back in March 2022, that it would block Google News from the country’s internet users after the company paused advertising in Russia and took steps to block online content that spread false information to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, many Western technology companies have either pulled their services and products out of Russia, or were subsequently blocked.

TikTok and Netflix, for example, suspended their services in the country, whereas Facebook was blocked. Twitter was partly blocked and Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco and others pulled back or withdrew entirely.

Roskomnadzor, which has long been a larger technological apparatus Russia's President Vladimir Putin has built over the years, is frequently used to exert control of the spread of information throughout Russia.

Apart from tightly supervising Russia’s internet, the local authorities also use a domestic spying system that has the ability to intercept phone calls and internet traffic.

But this time, things were a bit different.

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Google News and some others were blocked, not because of what the misinformation the Russians fear, but because of the influence of the Wagner Group in the society.

The Russian internet service providers have cut off access to some domains after Vladamir Putin accused Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group paramilitary group, of “organizing an armed rebellion.”

This happened soon after the mercenaries from the group crossed the border from Ukraine into Rostov-on-Don, a city in southern Russia, and appeared to take the city.

The city that is not far from the Sea of Azov, is already a home to Russia’s southern military headquarters, and that 'take over' without much resistance.

Soon, the group was moving towards Moscow, with many citizens of Russia welcoming, and bidding them farewell like heroes, like martyrs.

Some residents at the Lipetsk region, which sits on the road to Moscow, even appeared to welcome the soldiers.

Prigozhin even vowed to topple Russia’s Defense Ministry, according to the group in a Telegram post.

He also said that his men were on a "march for justice" to remove corrupt and incompetent Russian commanders he blames for botching the war in Ukraine.

Putin responded, framing Prigozhin’s rebellion as a "deadly threat," has promised harsh consequences for any who join the paramilitary group.

"Everyone who deliberately embarked on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed rebellion, chose the path of blackmail and terrorist methods — they will suffer inevitable punishment," he said.

In the past, Putin has said that the only thing he will not forgive, is betrayal, even from his own people.

Russian authorities then opened an investigation into Prigozhin for "organizing an armed rebellion."

Read: Russia's Wagner Group Uses Telegram To Share Video Of Corpses, And Plea For Ammunitions

However, the rebellion fell short, because the attempt by group to reach Moscow before being intercepted by regular forces, was abruptly halted the next day, on June 24th, after a deal was made with the help of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

The rebellious mercenary soldiers who briefly took over a Russian military headquarters on an ominous march toward Moscow were all gone on June 25th, and the convoys were only 500 kilometers from reaching the capital.

The office of Alexander Lukashenko said the decision to halt further movement of Wagner fighters across Russia was brokered by the Belarusian president, and with Putin's approval, in return guarantees their safety.

It's said that under terms of the agreement that ended the crisis, Yevgeny Prigozhin should remain in exile in Belarus, but shall not face prosecution.

According to a Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, he said that Lukashenko had offered to mediate because he has known the mercenary leader personally for around 20 years.

While the revolt stopped, the incident, and the deal, dented Putin’s reputation as a leader willing to ruthlessly punish anyone who challenges his authority, said the West.